


Prisoner of A Father

by SecretWonderland



Series: harry potter but dark and gay [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Child Abuse, Dark, Depression, Draco Malfoy is a spy, F/M, Good Draco Malfoy, M/M, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, Violence, beginning relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:35:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 51,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23885365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretWonderland/pseuds/SecretWonderland
Summary: Sirius Black had been the one to lead Voldemort straight to their house, straight to the baby on the second floor. Sirius Black had been so close to getting rid of them, even killed his friend Peter Pettigrew, another one of Voldemort’s favorites. And if Black was back now, that could only mean one thing.Draco swore when he closed his bedroom door, trading shoes for slippers. If he was going to worry about Potter now, he might as well be comfortable.Although ‘worry’ is probably the wrong word, given that Potter, without a doubt, had one of the Dark Lord’s trained killers after him.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Series: harry potter but dark and gay [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706284
Comments: 82
Kudos: 355





	1. Back in Black

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is going to be where i start to get away from the og plot, even more so in the next one, so be prepared! Also TW for child abuse! PLEASE DO NOT READ IF IT MAKES YOU UPSET EVEN IF IT'S NOT VERY GRAPHIC

"Again! Do it better this time or I’ll let the Dementors in.”

Draco shutters at the memory, but rises again, pointing his wand directly at the captive fairy in front of him. “ _CRUCIO!”_ The small thing withers and screams, crying out and begging for mercy. After the third scream, as if it had been a cue, he hears the curse repeated behind him and his body spasms out of control. _Bloody painful,_ everything hurts, he can barely see, much less control his wand. He fights it regardless, he knows what happens if he doesn’t. 

Dementors, awful creatures. They’d been roaming lately, and came straight to Lucius’s mansion, where the man had locked them in a room and thrown Draco in just because he passed out under the Cruciatus Curse. That had been a harrowing evening, he’d been forced out some hours later, shaking and looking broken enough that Lucius had actually hugged him and sent the house elves to draw him a bath. He’d even been allowed to eat what he wanted to that night. 

Granted he fucked that up a day later when Lucius caught him apologizing to the fairy he was forced to torture. 

“Malfoy’s do _not_ apologize.” he had been reminded, and then beat until he couldn’t walk. 

At least he had gotten weirdly good with medical skills for a thirteen year old. 

Eventually his father lets up and gives him almost an approving look before sending him to get changed. Another small blessing, his mother was coming home tonight. That meant a number of things for the young Malfoy. 

For starters, Lucius wouldn’t dare hurt him. The Dementors would be under lock and key. Draco could eat a normal dinner again. And his _mother_ would be there. He hadn’t seen her in months, almost a year to date, and by the gods had he missed her. 

Narcissa Malfoy brought life to the manor, and happiness into his soul. As soon as he hears the tell-tale crack of Apparition he’s running to her, bypassing the elves and smiling when she spots him.

“Draco!” She cries, opening her arms wide and suddenly he’s safe and warm and almost happy. They stay close for a few moments before his mother pulls away to cup his face. “Look at my boy, you’ve grown so much! I can’t believe I haven’t seen you in so long, I can’t believe I missed your birthday! We’ll simply have to celebrate it tomorrow..”

Draco beams at her, "I’m so happy to have you home!”

“Naturally, dear,” Narcissa links arms with her son, pulling him towards the kitchen where dozens of bags have been placed. “I brought a few gifts for you and your father, although some of them you can’t open for another day.”

“Birthday, then?”

“Of course darling! What else would they be?”

Draco refrains from speaking, lest he tell her about what his father thought of him opening packages, even if they were addressed to him. 

“Now I heard your father lost Dobby, a pity really, I know he was both our favorites, but do we still have Silsy? Come out would you?”

Silsy appears, silly little smock hanging off her shoulders as she bows to Narcissa. “Mistress.”

“Ah! There you are! Make Draco and I some mint tea, would you? We have much to discuss, and while you’re at it make sure the lot of you eat dinner, you’re looking too thin.”

The house elf smiles gratefully at the woman who sits at the counter-top island and beacons Draco to join her. 

“Tomorrow, love, I’m stealing you away all to myself. Your father’s had you all summer, I think it’s high time we get to be together!”

Draco grins at her, “What shall we do?”

“I was thinking Diagon Alley, school does start soon, don't give me that look, it’s not becoming of you. While we’re there, I’ve arranged a bit of a surprise, two actually. But they are surprises, Draco, your father doesn’t even know about them yet” Narcissa looks around, “Where _is_ your father? I’m surprised he hasn’t greeted me yet.”

“I was giving you and your son some alone time, love.”

They both look towards the doorway where Lucius leans against the frame, dressed in green and black, he almost looks normal. Like he would come over and hug them both and then laugh with them, tuck Draco into bed, dance with his mother all night long. It would almost fool him, but Draco knew better. He always knew better these days, being 13 sucked so far, but seeing Lucius kiss his mother on her cheek, wrapping an arm around her waist...it gave him a small bit of treacherous hope.

“Planning on stealing Draco away for tomorrow?”

“Naturally, I haven’t seen him in nearly a year, much less had time to celebrate his birthday in a way he deserves.”

Lucius laughs, easy and light, like he hadn’t been torturing his son hours before. “Can’t we celebrate together?”

Narcissa turns to face him, “You’ve had the whole summer to celebrate! Taking him for a day is nothing, I _did_ consider taking him for a week you know.”

His father backs down at that and dinner is served, complete with tea they asked for and Lucius attempting to act like nothing had been going on. Draco ignores him completely, asking his mother about Paris, her travels, and breaking into the presents she’d brought. 

He’d ended up with an entire new wardrobe, the finest of materials in each shirt and pants, new shoes polished to perfection, he smiles when they notice their matching necklaces hang from the other’s neck. She’s also snuck in some of his favorite treats from chocolate to lemon drops. Trinkets from a seeing glass to an ebony dagger that matched his comb. “Do you like them?”

“I love them” he smiles, once again treading the line of happiness, only avoiding it encase his father got any ideas.

“Wait until tomorrow, love.”

\----------

Tomorrow came with excitement. They woke early, ate breakfast by the fire, and then parted to dress. Draco donned his new silk shirt, white and bellowing out just above his rather high waisted black slacks. His shoes were surprisingly comfortable for new ones, and his coat even more so, with a pocket perfect for his wand. Narcissa dressed similarly in color, white dress and black coat. Joining hands around eleven, they looked around the manor and Apperated away. 

The alley bustled with its usual energy, students running around to get books, parents balking at the price of things. Narcissa led them down the street quickly, down to an old house he knew was abandoned, so when she opened the door he was more surprised to see it actually open than he was to see his friends standing inside, presents and smiles waiting. 

“Draco!” 

Two sets of arms he quickly recognizes as Pansy and Blaise wrap around him before he could reach for his wand, but once he’s encased in the familiar warmth, he grins back. “You! Mother? Did you?”

Crabbe and Goyle grin behind the arms around him, waving quietly. 

“Of course I did. When your father told me you hadn’t seen them I couldn’t believe it.” 

Pansy turns to her, bowing slightly and smiling all the same. “Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy, we’ve been missing him.”

His mother smiles politely, “Can I trust you four to look after him for an hour? I have some business to attend to before I can take him to his next surprise.” 

“Of course, Mrs. Malfoy. Leave him to us,” Blaise responds. 

Narcissa kisses his cheek before she leaves, and then his friends are on him.

“Have you been getting our letter?”

“Why haven’t you written back?”

“How come your mother doesn’t know?”

“What’s going on?”

“Where have you _been_?”

Draco takes a deep breath, sitting down in one of the chairs and offering them all a bit of chocolate. “I’ve been rather busy this summer.”

“You don’t say,” Blaise glares, “Still doesn’t answer any of our questions.”

“Who said I’d be answering anything.”

“We did.” Pansy glares, “Or so help me I’ll tell your mother our letters haven’t been answered, you know how she feels about being rude.”

Draco rolls his eyes, but invites his friends to sit, not surprised in the least when Crabbe and Goyle tear into the snacks he brought. “It’s nothing really, father has just been training me is all. That mixed with the learning duties of the house and school work, I haven’t had much time. I really didn’t know you all had even sent me letters, I usually fall into bed and sleep right away each night, I haven’t been checking my desk for them.”

The last bit isn’t lie, he does usually fall asleep the second his head hits the pillow, but his father had been keeping mail from him ever since Pansy invited him over for afternoon tea the next day. Couldn’t miss out on his torture sessions. 

Pansy sighs, “Merlin, Draco, we all thought you were dead until your mother contacted us.”

“I’m thankful she did.”

Blaise smirks at him, “So you _did_ miss us.”

“Not as much as you’ll miss your throat should you keep speaking.”

The group laughs at that and Draco carefully steers the conversation back to their summers, hearing all the fun bits. Crabbe and Goyle spent much of it together, laughing and trying out new sweets, playing on brooms and trying to figure out their school work. Draco promises to help them once the year starts, Merlin knows they’ll need it. Pansy had taken a trip through Europe with her mother, shopping and tasting new foods, coming home to visit with Daphne Greengrass and her sister, Astoria, “Her family was so happy she had another Slytherin friend, they were worried about her being put in Ravenclaw, you know”. Blaise spent his summer with his current father in Germany, reading countless books. Apparently his mother had another affair while they were gone, a divorce was coming soon, paperwork already filed. “The new guy is okay, doesn’t really talk much, but he gave me a new book that the old one didn’t have, so I guess it’s fine for now.”

“Your mother never is going to settle down, is she?” Pansy asks. Blaise just shakes his head.

They’re in the middle of discussing the charms summer assignment when Narcissa returns, frazzled and counting them all.

“Mother? What’s happened?”

Once she’s made sure all children are accounted for, she pulls them all towards her. “Listen to me. All of you need to go home immediately, lock your doors, and do not open them until it’s time for you to return to Hogwarts, do you understand?”

They nod, but it’s Pansy who asks “What’s going on?”

She pins the younger girls with a kind smile and worried eyes, “Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban.”

Draco’s mood plummets. 

Connections form as his mother takes his hand, waiting for all the other children to vanish before they do the same. Dementors at his house...he should’ve known they weren’t there as a personal favor to his father. Something was _very_ wrong when Dementors were loose, something a bit bigger than the punishment of a boy.

From what he knows about Sirius Black, this is a very big problem indeed.Everyone in the wizarding world knows about the traitor. He was the Potter’s friend, thick as thieves, closer than brothers with James, the man had been at their wedding, in school he had been apart of their group, his father hated every single one of them, constantly talking about how shameful it was for a Black to be sorted into Gryffindor, Sirius Black had been to the Potters what Pansy and Blaise are becoming to him. 

Sirius Black had been the one to lead Voldemort straight to their house, straight to the baby on the second floor. Sirius Black had been so close to getting rid of them, even killed his friend Peter Pettigrew, another one of Voldemort’s favorites. And if Black was back now, that could only mean one thing.

Draco swore when he closed his bedroom door, trading shoes for slippers. If he was going to worry about Potter now, he might as well be comfortable. 

Although ‘worry’ is probably the wrong word, given that Potter, without a doubt, had one of the Dark Lord’s trained killers after him.

That and it was time for his afternoon session with the Cruciatus Curse. And the matching dagger that left a ghastly gash across his forearm.

Fuck, he really could never catch a break.

At least Potter was probably safe in his muggle home somewhere else in London, hopefully not doing something stupid like leaving in the middle of the night and getting on the Night Bus, which everyone knew was extremely dangerous and only for desperate wizards. 

If he was lucky, Harry Potter would be in his own bed that night, not staying at some weird inn.

But everyone knows Draco Malfoy is seldom ‘lucky’


	2. LuLu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Because, mother, maybe a Little Light is exactly what I need.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for abuse, although it'snot as bad as the first chapter if I remember correctly. Still, be careful!

Narcissa manages to corner him the day before he left. He’d been reading the last chapter for his summer History of Magic assignment, casually sprawled out in a patch of light coming through the library windows, willing himself to be ignorant of the plans his father had for him that evening. How the bastard convinced his mother to let his ‘training’ continue he’d really like to know. 

“Darling, may I bother you for a moment?” 

Draco looks up, smiling and shutting the book, “You’re never a bother.”

She returns the twinkle in his eyes, and it’s then that Draco notices she has something hidden behind her back. “Do you remember how I promised you two surprises in Diagon Alley?” 

“Yes, but with Black escaping it’s really fine-”

“ _Draco_. I’m not done, love.” 

He shuts his mouth, but does sit up so he can face her better. Even Lucius knows that when Narcissa Malfoy speaks, one listens. 

“You see, darling, I was gone far too much in the past year, and I know your father isn’t exactly the over affectionate type like you and I. While in Paris, I noticed the group of wizards I was inclined to stay around kept a certain type of animal I grew rather fond of, naturally I assumed you would too.” She brings her arms back around and storm-grey eyes meet bright blue ones. The cat-like creature is small, most likely a kitten, but confident as if the thing owns the house already. Fur white as snow, save the few specks of what looks like silver, tail far too slender, yet bushy at the end like someone had sown a patch of fur and the very tip. Draco’s itching to pet the thing, so when his mother sets it in his lap he almost squeals. 

“I haven’t named her yet, and yes, ‘her’ is appropriate. Despite her appearance, she’s not a housecat. Rather, a fetching Kneazle. I know your father is training you to protect yourself from such things, but with the Dementors and Black on the loose, I couldn’t risk you going back to Hogwarts with only an owl, this girl here will protect you, guide you when you are lost, save you from those with ill intent, and give you company when I cannot.”

The Kneazle purrs in his lap, rubbing her head into Draco’s stomach that is growing warm with affection. She didn’t know about the abuse, she assumed it was to protect him, of course she allowed it. She would do anything and everything to keep him safe. “Thank you, mother.” He swallows, throat unbearably clogged, “I can’t explain how much this means to me.”

“Well you never have been good with words, have you? Name her already! I’d very much like to stop calling her ‘Draco’s Kneazle’.”

“How did father allow this?” He asks before he can stop himself. Narcissa’s eyes narrow, he quickly makes amends. “I mean, doesn’t he hate animals? He barely let me keep Poly, not to mention how he keeps the owls locked up if they aren’t in use.”

“Your father,” she begins in an angry voice that has Draco’s eyes widening, “could stand to be a little less of a blithering bastard sometimes. Now take your pet and go pack, we’ll have to leave early to avoid the Dementors.”

Draco starts out the door, cat in arms, only to pause and recollect his books, meeting her eyes with a soft smile he rarely displayed these days, “Parvos Lumen Malfoy. Parvy for short, or perhaps Pretty as a nickname, maybe even just LuLu.”

Narcissa nods her approval, “Why Parvos Lumen?”

He’s almost out the door when she asks, so he has to turn just enough for himself and LuLu to look at her, “Because, mother, maybe a Little Light is exactly what I need.”

LuLu warms up to him like she’d been personally birthed for his every need. Within an hour it’s like she knows him better than he knows himself, keeping still while he studies, rubbing against him when he begins to get frustrated. When there’s a knock on his door, one he recognizes as his Call for Crucio, LuLu blocks his path, growling.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Lucius snarls, opening the door and glaring down at the thing that suddenly looked a whole lot scarier than it had a few seconds ago. 

“It’s okay!” He tells her, brushing a hand across her back, “It’s okay LuLu, stay here. I’ll be back, love.”

LuLu makes a few noble attempts to get him to stay, complete with blocking the door, or trying to block the door and too adorably small to do it. 

“What the hell are you doing with that _thing_ ?” Lucius snarls the second they enter the torture chambers in the dungeon. He doesn’t have much time to respond before he’s hexing Draco into the wall, poking the end of his wand right into Draco’s still open arm wound. “You think a _protector_ will stop me from training you? Do you think it will stop the Dark Lord from taking whatever he wants from you?! _Do you?!_ ”

“No!” Draco gasps out, “I didn’t-mother bought her-I swear I did-”

A swift kick in his gut keeps him from talking, a few good hits from Lucius keeps him from thinking too hard about things until blood from his ebony cut is dripping onto the floor. How much time passes, he’s never sure. But he knows days in here are out of the question, if he focuses hard on how good it will be to get back to Hogwarts he can almost ignore what’s happening to his body. The only thing Lucius _won’t_ do is the Killing Curse, just because it would be too messy for the man. The paper work, the trials, finding someone to blame….Lucius simply didn’t have the time. A real shame too, Draco would much rather prefer that to this shit. 

“Go get yourself cleaned up,” he registers his father saying after what feels like years. “You have a train to catch in four hours, it would be a shame if a Dementor were to get you before you were within the walls of that wretched castle….”

\----------

“Her name is LuLu? I didn’t picture you as the type to give animal cutesy names.”

Draco glares at his friends. Making sure all the wounds from last night were hidden had taken _hours_ and keeping them hidden on the train was exhausting, but he found that if he didn’t focus on it, the concealment charms in place were easy. His mother had fretted and made him promise on several different accounts to owl him as frequently as he could, apparently she was going back out to Paris to stay safe of Black, Draco thought it was a bit dramatic of her. Or maybe his father just wanted to have the manor to himself, and so long as he, LuLu and his mother were safe, Draco couldn’t care less.

He’s really too tired to be doing much, but he doesn’t trust the train. Something could get him on the train, besides he could sleep at Hogwarts. Under nice and soft silk sheets...his friends all snoring beside him….the rush of water nearby and just close enough to lull him into a beautifully safe darkness…..

“Her full name is Parvous Lumen Malfoy, but that’s a mouthful and she likes LuLu much better.”

“She’s stunning!” Pansy coos, getting a white head to purr against her hand. The two hit it off rather nicely, LuLu even tolerated Crabbe and Goyle, and while Draco was still clearly her favorite, Pansy and Blaise seemed to come to a close second.

“I’ve read that Kneazles are one of the most loyal creatures to exist, some say they can peer into other’s souls and judge if they’ll be good for their master.”

Draco holds LuLu up so he can look her in the eyes, “Are you gonna protect me from my big bad enemies?”

LuLu just blinks at him. 

The group goes back to talking and the cat curls up in his lap, asleep at first. She nearly takes him out with her, the warmth always calming and fuck when did calm equal sleepy? Had he really been anxious the entire time he was awake? How long had this been going on? LuLu’s fur starts to toughen up and quickly pulls him out of his mind.. Draco looks around to see what’s wrong. His friends pick up on it, the whole lot looking for any sign of trouble.

“Draco,” Blaise starts, “What do you-”

Lights cut off and suddenly LuLu is hissing, standing on the ground to face the door of their cart, back raised and ready to jump. Cold sinks in from the window, the ceiling, the floor, the door that’s slowly creeping open. Cloaked, hooded, and with the same skin of the dead that Draco’s learned to despise. He stands in front of the Dementor, pushing LuLu behind him, making sure to hide Pansy who had just been talking about how happy she was to spend the summer with her mom. One couldn’t be happy in front of these things, and he was least likely to get attacked, but god his legs were shaking. He could almost feel it, the sucking sensation. Like he’d been blown into the middle of an ice storm, like nothing good would ever happen. He would lose, everyone he cared about would die, everything he worked towards would be for nothing. 

Draco looked into the endless black and felt fear, the crippling loneliness that followed him everywhere clogged up his throat, somehow the wound on his arm seemed to throb, and then it was happening. The creature leaned forward and he could feel it all slipping.

Seeing his mother come home, spending the day with her. Getting LuLu, falling asleep with something warm in his arms. Last year, when Harry had been saved, when Dobby had told him he was safe and freed. Snape smiling at some dumb joke he made, Dumbledore offering him a lemon-drop, Fawkes fast asleep on his shoulder. Pansy coming out of her dorm, groaning and not laughing nearly as much as Draco had when they accidentally matched their outfits. Blaise and him cuddled up watching books come to life. Crabbe and Goyle rushing to him to tell him they passed two of their finals with Exceeds Expectations. Draco alone at the top of the Astronomy tower, watching shooting stars. The small moments he treasured, all fading and falling away into images that left him chilled to the bone.

Narcissa, bloodied and lying on the floor, Lucius laughing above her, wand drawn, the ebony knife in his other hand, dripping with some maroon liquid. LuLu, mangled and barely breathing. Dobby, chained and being beaten by his father. His friends, proudly showing their Dark Marks, grinning and killing at the same time. Fawkes with his neck snapped, Dumbledore falling and falling and falling...Snape with wide eyes, some green light hits him in the chest, he stumbles. Harry comes into view, but there’s something wrong….the boy starts turning and-

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!”

Draco’s stumbles away, breathing heavily, LuLu rubs against his leg to comfort him, growling at the figure as it’s forced out of the carriage. A gruff man stands in the aftermath, brown hair disheveled and face in a deep frown. 

“You there.” He says, turning directly towards Draco. “Are you alright? How _are_ you still standing?”

“N-no idea,” Draco chokes out, “Must be LuLu, those things are bloody awful.”

The man laughs at that, pulling out a chocolate frog from his pocket and holding it out to him, “My name is Professor Lupin, and as much as I admire your bravery, Mr. Malfoy, I’ll need you to stop by my office first thing after dinner, must make sure the attacked students are safe and all.”

Draco can’t stop himself, but he does finally have enough feeling back in his body to realize two hands rest on his back. “There have been more attacks?”

Lupin nods, “Yes. You and Harry Potter. Quite some intriguing targets if you ask me, oh there’s no need to worry, Mr. Malfoy, I’m sure it was just a routine check for and fugitives, if you catch my meaning. I really should be off to see the driver now, do make sure to eat that, you’ll feel much better afterwards.”

And because Draco has learned his lesson about Professors offering him things to make him feel better, he quickly opens the frog and shoves it into his mouth. Somehow it makes his blood run a little warmer.

“Are you alright? What was that thing? What was it doing to you?”

Draco sits down mostly grateful for Pansy and Blaise’s support, and yet some part of him still feels ashamed. He ignores it in favor of explaining Dementors to his friends, trying his best to make it sound like it wasn’t all that bad. 

“It was sucking your _soul?!”_ Apparently he’s not doing a good job. 

“Just the happy bits. They feed on the lighter things, like memories that make you happy. As long as they don’t kiss you, you’ll live.”

“Living and wandering around the earth all sad and empty isn’t the same thing Draco!” 

He blinks at Blaise’s furious face. Wasn’t that how his year was going so far? Was he not living then?? 

His friends falter so he smiles, “Better than being dead though!” 

They reluctantly agree. 

\----------

Call him obsessive, but the boy is looking like he can barely stand on his own two feet. Draco watches, partly amused, and partly concerned as Harry Potter shakily takes his first few steps off the train. Maybe he’s just plain stupid. There’s no other explanation for why he leans in close behind Potter, noting briefly that he smells of brooms and a winter’s rain, and whispers in his ear.

“You _fainted,_ Potter? Was Longbottom telling the truth, you actually _fainted_?”

He really needs Potter to turn on him and say something rude. To keep up the banter so Draco knows he’s actually okay enough to function normally, but instead it’s Weasley who glares at him. Potter actually relaxes a bit to Draco’s utter confusion.

“Sod off Malfoy!” The redhead yells, and because he hadn’t slept in so long _and_ just got sucked by a Dementor _and_ had to go through an interrogation with his friends, Draco gives his nastiest smirk. He’s opening up his mouth to retaliate when Potter beats him to it.

“Did you not faint your first time?”

Striking green eyes peer into his soul, as if telling him they will accept nothing but the truth. Draco can’t lie to those eyes, and he can’t fathom why, so he looks away.

“That _was_ my first time- hey! LuLu! Get back here!”

Embarrassing him even further, LuLu completely and utterly disregards him, cosying up to Potter and purring while she rubs against his legs. Behind him, Pansy and Blaise stiffen. It’s not hard to imagine why, after all, here is LuLu, some magical protector and judge for her master, budding up with his sworn enemy. To make matters worse, Granger squeals with delight.

“Oi! Malfoy! I didn’t know you had a cat!”

“I don’t!” He snaps, picking LuLu up and holding her back from her weird love fest with Potter’s jeans. “LuLu is a Kneazle, and a fine one at that, now if you’ll excuse us, we have important places to be!”

Before anyone can reply, and that does include the traitor in his arms, Draco walks away, robes flapping in the wind, Blaise and Pansy scowling behind him. He ignores the green eyes he can feel piercing his back the entire walk to the castle.

In all honesty he completely forgets about them when he sees Snape. The man doesn’t look half as pleased to see him, and that is a very big warning sign.

“Mr. Malfoy,” the toneless voice says, although Draco swears he can sense worry under it all, “Come with me immediately. Your luggage will be seen to, you can bring your Kneazle, and do not worry about dinner. You will eat in my office.”

A completely unnecessary display, but Draco follows him anyways. It’s hard to ignore being watched with not only Pansy and Blaise following his back, but three new sets of eyes as well. He can’t shake the feeling that he knows who they are. 

The two don’t speak until they reach Snape’s office, are inside the door, and have tea in their hands. Only then does the Potions Master’s facade crack.

“I was told you were attacked on the train.”

Draco pauses, tea sloshing for a moment, before nodding. LuLu doesn’t stray far from his side, but she also doesn’t seem to mind Snape, actually, she rubbed once against his leg before settling between them. He takes it as a good sign.

“I also was told that you withstood a Dementor for over a minute, and did not pass out.”

 _Oh fuck_.

“It must be the result of LuLu,” he coolly replies. An upgrade from the stuttering he was sure he would have.

“Really? Because despite their protective nature, a Kneazle cannot withstand a Dementor for even fifteen seconds, much less a whole minute. Do you know what that tells me?”

 _Fuck_ , he didn’t want to know, so he doesn’t move. Not that it discourages his professor.

“It tells me that you have become a frequent visitor of Dementors, and I would like to know why. The _truth_ Draco. Now.”

 _Bloody hell_ …..the boy looks into his tea and weighs his options. On the one side, he probably did need to talk about everything that happened this summer. He couldn’t do that with Pansy and Blaise, they would be murderous and refuse to leave him alone for longer than two seconds. He couldn’t tell Dumbledore, Merlin knows it wouldn’t _do_ anything. That being said, Snape might be his last option….if the man wouldn’t turn in his father and completely fuck up the plan in place if he were to be a complete spy. No, Snape had too much of an emotional connection here. Maybe he could whisper it to LuLu in the dead of night, LuLu couldn’t do more than hiss and growl, and that wouldn’t jeopardize something so important. 

“Today, Draco.”

Grey meets black and Draco lets out a sigh, the man never asked for the full truth, and that was really his mistake.

“They were at our house a lot over summer, sir. I couldn’t go anywhere without running into one, eventually I guess I built a resistance.”

Snape glares, he knows it’s not all there, but it’s all that Draco would give him.

“And did your father know about this?”

“Yes,” Draco swallows, “He had me stay inside for most of the time, but he can’t exactly control them….” 

Another half truth, would they catch up with him one day? He hopes not. Either way, truth or lie, it seems to be enough for Snape. 

“I see that you’re faring well, I assume someone has asked to see you to confirm this later?”

 _Finally,_ something he doesn’t mind admitting at all, “Yes, sir. Professor Lupin asked me to stop by his office after dinner.”

Snape _seethes_ “Professor Lupin? _Professor Lupin?!_ ”

“Um, yes sir? He’s the one who got rid of the Dementor for me.”

That seems to bring some sense back into Snape, who had been on the verge of breaking his tea cup. It would’ve been a shame really, they were having Draco’s favorite, a mix of mint and chamomile. Seeing a chance to cool Snape off further, Draco bites a rather large bullet.

“I saw my mother recently," he rushed out. "She came home the week that Black was found, brought presents and everything. This she told me to give to you.” 

He pulls out a small package that had been given to him with the utmost care on the platform and hands it over. Draco had wanted to rip open the stupid thing and find out what it was, but seeing the brief flicker of happiness on Snape’s face made him glad he didn’t. Strangely, it’s more appealing to watch someone else open their own present. 

A small vile, black and ornate, with a carving of a Lily on it. The label written in such perfect handwriting he can read it from his seat across the room; _peppermint springs, encased with Lily, perfect for your happiness, Severus._

Draco hopes Snape takes the note to heart. From the smile slowly blooming across his face, he appears to. Which is good, because Draco has a professor to meet in exactly twenty minutes. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys remember that scene in Deathly Hallows when Narcissa lies to Voldy about Harry being dead and doesn't even question Draco when he goes 'yeah, that ain't Harry' even though he knew he was looking at Harry? Yeah, that screams 'Narcissa cares more about her son than the dark lord bullshit' to me, also like I couldn't bear to make Draco abused on two ends, instead he has one loving mother and one bastard of a father, but really, don't we all?? Also Draco with a cat is something I always needed, they're the same thing, plus, gays needs pets, Draco Needs A Cat, so I gave him the upgraded version :)


	3. Meetings in Private

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Keeping your peers on their toes?” 
> 
> “Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! just wanted to let you know that finals start next week so updates might be a little slow

“I take it Professor Snape already told you why I found you standing so peculiar…”

The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher changed the room around from last year’s Golden Moron’s set. For the first time in at least a year the room looked like a classroom, dark wooden desks, a few odds and ends for decorations, no over the top dragon hanging from the ceiling, no weird golden bits throughout the walls, just a normal classroom. Draco felt like he would actually be learning for once, he was fairly excited about it. 

“Yes, sir. He did.” 

Draco is not, however, excited about this conversation. 

“Would you care to explain to me,” Lupin leans against his desk, arms crossed and eyebrow raised expectantly, “If you’re okay?” 

The shock on Draco’s face must be a little _too_ clear because the professor smiles and continues. 

“Don’t mistake me, Mr. Malfoy, I won’t pry into personal matters so early in the term. Your life outside these walls is not my business unless you choose it to be. Should you decide to talk to me about things, I would be thrilled of course, but given your father, I understand if you don’t.”

“You know my father?” 

“I knew him.” Lupin corrects, “He was a few years ahead of us all though. A Perfect when we were first years, and quite terrifying if I remember correctly.”

Draco snorts in spite of himself, “Yeah that sounds like good old dad.” 

To his surprise, Lupin smiles. “I’ve heard you have the same glare.”

“Mine is much scarier, Professor. You can never tell if I truly mean it.”

“Keeping your peers on their toes?” 

“Always.”

He gets a chuckle out of the man who uncrosses his arms and nods. “Well, Malfoy, it seems to me like you’re in good working condition. Carry on to your dorm, now, you should get some sleep before the first day.”

Draco pauses, not sure about the new affection for the stranger in front of him. Lupin seems trustworthy, he’s never felt so at ease around a stranger before, and the man was in league with Dumbledore, which meant he was in league with Potter. Plus, if it weren't for him stepping in and getting rid of the Dementor... If that much was true then….

“Professor,” Draco begins, things gathered and ready to leave if this does go horribly wrong, “Call me Draco. I am more than my father’s son.” 

Lupin grins, “I can see that already.” 

He leaves the room feeling a little lighter than he did after the Dementor’s attack. Maybe he could finally get some sleep, hell he _deserves_ some rest after all this. Making his way down the steps and taking a few twists and turns, he starts to get a particularly annoying feeling that he won’t be getting to bed so easily.

Footsteps echo his, slightly off beat, like someone is walking behind him but he can’t see anyone. Not even a shadow. Draco palms his wand, slowing down and trying to think of _who._ Not Snape or Dumbledore, they would’ve simply called out his name by now. Not Pansy or Blaise, they would’ve linked arms and laughed at scaring him. Not Crabbe and Goyle, they were too heavy footed for the pattern. It couldn’t be Lupin, the man had started lesson plans when Draco walked out. It wouldn’t be his father, Dumbledore would never let him walk alone in the hallways with him in the school. So who is it? 

His heart beat picks up. Sirius Black maybe? He couldn’t have gotten in the school though. There was no way for him to sneak in unnoticed. It was impossible…..besides he wasn’t the man’s target….either way the suspense is starting to irritate him so he snatches his wand and whirls around, pointing it into nothingness. 

“Show yourself.” He keeps his voice level and calm, if there is an attacker, he’s right by two classrooms. Should something bad happen, he could bunker down in one of those and get help. “I know someone’s there. Stop hiding like a coward and face me.” 

Nothing happens, so he waits, wand drawn and ready to strike. And then, to his utter astonishment, he hears a weirdly familiar sign and Harry Potter is appearing out of quite literal thin air. 

“You?! Where did you- what? You have an invisibility cloak? Potter what the _fuck-_ “ 

The idiot rolls his eyes and before he can properly hex him, Draco is being shoved into the classroom on his left. And yes, he does throw a fit about it. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! I’ll have your head for this! Get your hands off me what the _fuck_ Potter?! I’ll report you so help me Merlin I am going to-“

“Will you _shut up_ for two seconds Malfoy!” 

Potter locks the door behind them, after casting a wary glance at Draco he adds a few silencing charms too. Seeing all this _does_ strike a weird chord in his chest, something akin to fear, mixed with a little bit of anger. He keeps one hand on his wand just in case. 

“You really never _do_ stop talking, did you know that?”

Draco sneers, fuck being quiet, “Corner me for some old fashioned duel then? If you wanted to hurl insults can’t you wait until there are people present to tell me how wonderfully I embarrass you?” 

Potter rolls his eyes for the second time and Draco fears he really might give the other boy a black eye before whatever this is ends. 

“Listen, you prat, I’m not here to insult you-“

“Really? Because you’re doing a great job of it.” 

“I know about Dobby.” Potter all but yells, in his defense he _had_ to do something to shut Draco up, and it works pretty well considering the boy gapes like a fish. Seizing his opportunity, Potter continues. 

“I know you sent him to keep me safe last year, I know you were happy to see him freed, I know you got him a job at the castle, I know you lied to your father about a _lot_ of things last year,I know you’re close with Dumbledore, and I know that despite you being a giant asshole, you tried to save my life multiple times last year.”

Draco doesn’t respond and for a second Potter looks like his plan has backfired, so, a little more quietly, he adds, “I know about the abuse too.”

 _Oh fuck._ Bloody hell, Draco almost screams at him. This is not good. There’s nothing he can say. Nothing he can deny, because Potter knew the truth, or maybe he didn’t. Maybe this was some weird test of sorts. Draco snorts, “You must have hit your head while you were stalking me because I-“

“Cut the crap, Malfoy. I was _there._ In the Astronomy Tower. I saw _everything._ I _heard_ everything. You can’t lie to me. Not about this.” 

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck! Shit! This is Not Good!_ Draco inhales sharply, then tries to make it look like he’s just breathing and not about to have a full blown panic. Instead of flying off the broomstick, he leans into the desk behind him and crosses his arms, this way he’s grounded. The warmth from his palms flood his arms, the sharp edge of the desk snaps him back to reality. He has to keep this hidden. No matter what he could not be exposed. 

“What do you want, Potter?” Draco asks, evenly, as calm as he can manage, quiet to an extent. 

It’s not what Potter is expecting. “What do I want?”

“Yes. You’ve caught me, found out some of Draco Malfoy’s dirty little secrets, surely you realize none of those things can be known. They’ve been hidden for a reason, and I’d like to keep it that way so I’m asking what you want. Money? Homework? A winning streak in Quidditch? What will it take to keep that big mouth of yours shut?” 

Potter looks at him like he’d just insulted the man's unborn children. “I don’t want any of that! I wasn’t going to tell anyone anyways, no one would believe me. I just want to know why.”

“Why what?”

“Why did you protect me? Why are you and Dumbledore so close? Why do you care about Dobby? Who’s side are you really on?” 

Draco shrugs. He could work with that. Some of them were vague enough, if he was lucky he could get out of here without revealing more than he had to. 

“I protected you because you’re too stupid to protect yourself, Dumbledore is the headmaster and concerned about all his students. Dobby was a house elf of mine since childhood, and as for sides...I am always on my own side. Whatever is best for me is what I will choose.”

He starts towards the door but Merlin damn him if Potter doesn’t speak once more. 

“And the abuse? He knocked you clean out….you didn’t even flinch.”

His back stiffening is a clear sign but before he can retort Potter signs again. 

“Look. You asked me what I want. I want us to stop fighting so much. Clearly there are worse things out there than our little rivalry. We could be friends, Draco.” 

“That’s Malfoy to you.” Draco turns on his heel, glaring into green eyes. “We _cannot_ be _friends,_ Potter. Let me get that clear that I will _never_ be your friend. I am a _Malfoy._ I am a _Slytherin._ There is _nothing_ in this world that could make you and I friends. Not even your stupid Gryffindor pride. If you corner me again, I will hex you into next week and laugh at your tears.” He unlocks the door. “I didn’t flinch because I’m not fucking stupid, something you should take note of.” 

And then, before Potter can hold him back even longer, Draco matches out the door and straight down to his bed, where he ignores Blaise and Pansy and all his other friends so he can finally get some fucking sleep.

\----------

“You have _got_ to stop hexing people. You’re gonna end up in detention if you don’t.”

Draco shrugs, shoving another spoonful of yogurt into his mouth, Pansy is not impressed. 

“Blaise is right, I get that you’ve been a little stressed but you’re starting to lose out house points.”

“I’m being careful, it’s only been a day, hun.”

“Yes and being down fifty points because _someone_ is irritated can put us behind for the whole year.”

He would glare but Blaise is already doing it. A poor imitation, really, Draco could show him a pointer or two, but he knows his friends have a point. His little meeting with Potter on the first day had made him anxious, put him in a completely sour mood, and he took it out on any annoying bastard who dared to get in his way. So far he had only hexed about thirty people, but given that hexing was generally frowned upon, he supposes it's kind of an issue. He had expected to come down to breakfast and see the entire school talking about him, whispering about him being a blood traitor, making fun of him for being thrown around so easily, and yet nothing happened. If anything the gossip around him had been his own doing, Potter really was keeping his mouth shut. Here Draco is, at lunch, and everything is completely normal. Well as normal as it could be, putting on a show of pretending to ignore Potter when he would usually be heckling him was a little bit unusual. 

“Alright, fine. I’ll calm down with the hexing, but if you think this means I’m going to start being nice….”

Pansy actually laughs, “Honey, you being nice would be the end of the world.”

At least some things would never change. 

“He’s nice to LuLu.”

“That’s because she’s not insufferable like the two of you.”

LuLu picks that exact moment to hop into his lap, meowing at his friends across the table and looking at his chicken like she’s in love with it. 

“No, no, no, love, you can’t have any of that. I know you ate today, I saw it at breakfast.”

She glares at him, but makes no further moves towards his plate. Pansy and Blaise stifle their laughter behind coughs, completely giggling when Draco sneaks her a bit of the white meat anyways. How could he deny those sparkly blue eyes?

They part not long after, Blaise and Draco, along with Crabbe and Goyle, waving goodbye to LuLu and Pansy. It had only taken them a few hours to realize how much the thing _hates_ being outside, preferring to lounge by the fires or in bits of sunlight versus the actual sun. 

“Did you hear about what happened to Potter this morning?”

Draco almost trips over nothing at Blaise’s question, but quickly catches himself. “No?”

“Apparently,” Blaise laughs, “That old hag Trelawney predicted his death in front of the whole class! I wish I could’ve been there, his face would’ve had us laughing for hours!” 

They burst into a bit of chuckling and Draco hopes Blaise can’t tell his isn’t real. Is Potter okay? Even a mistaken death prediction can fuck someone up mentally, it’s never a fun experience, and fucking _hell_ he wished he knew why it made him so worried. 

“Maybe he’s still wearing the face, we could still get in a few good laughs before class starts.”

Crabbe and Goyle grin at the two, “We sure hope so.”

Care for Magical Creatures was being taught by that awful giant Hagrid this year and why Draco agreed to take the class he still didn’t know, something about it being required. Idly he wonders if he can get Snape to get him out of it, after all, no one seemed to be able to open their book. 

Which, apparently, wasn’t supposed to be an issue. 

“How?” he asked for the class after Hagrid instructed them to open it. 

“Eh?” came the ever fruitful response. Dear Merlin, his irritation was spiking and he couldn’t even hex anyone now. 

“How do we open our books?” Draco repeats, watching in amusement as the class pulls them out, all bound in one way or another, Potter’s with a belt of all things. How annoying. 

“Yer, um, yer supposed to _stroke_ them…”

He was going to have a stroke before this class was over with. Hagrid took Granger’s book and opened it with ease after running a finger down it’s spine. It had been that simple? Oh fuck he was gonna blow. 

“Oh! How silly we’ve been! We should’ve _stroked_ them!” He turns to Blaise, “Why didn’t we guess that?” 

Blaise elbows him, a plea to stop antagonizing a professor. Potter is the one to actually voice what his friend thinks. 

“Shut up, Malfoy.” 

_That’s_ a familiar sentence. Normal and welcome, so unlike the kind green eyes that begged with him last night, now they were furious, which serves the idiot right for thinking that they could be _friends._ His real friends stiffen beside him, ready to attack. 

Hagrid disappears to grab something he doesn’t pay attention to, so it’s no surprise that Blaise glares back at the insulter as soon as he’s gone. 

“Careful, Potter, there’s a Dementor behind you.”

Draco wants to laugh but Hagrid is back and the face Potter makes is enough to get him back in good spirits until he sees what the giant brings with him. 

“Hippogriffs! Beauties aren’t they?” 

More like the most terrifying thing Draco has ever seen. Larger than a horse, beaks and talons like birds but with the body of a lion and _wings,_ dear Merlin, the size of Draco’s entire body. What the _fuck_ was this oaf thinking? 

“Who wants to meet him?” 

Draco hears the sentence and immediately swears to the seven circles of hell that if Harry bloody Potter- naturally steps up with his other two idiot friends. Draco’s going to _murder_ him. Crabbe glances at him, biting his lip with worry. “We’re not going to have to ride that thing, are we?” he whispers. 

“Merlin, no, it looks like Potter already got that role,” Draco grumbles back. 

Potter picks that exact moment to smile at Hagrid and announce “I’ll do it.”

And, it has occurred to him more than once, but he should _really_ pay more attention to his classes. 

“Harry!” Lavender and that one Parvati chick whisper, “Remember your tea leaves!”

Maybe Draco should’ve threatened to kill him if he jeopardized his safety last night. Maybe that would’ve kept The Idiot Who Keeps Trying To Die from walking forward and staring directly into the creature’s, Buckbeak, eyes. He glares at the animal like he was daring it to hurt Potter, and then the stupid thing bows and Hagrid is bellowing “Good Job!” 

To his absolute horror, the dimwit doesn’t stop there, “You can rid ‘em now Harry!” And before the boy can protest, yes Draco does see the ‘no wait’ trying to slide off Potter’s mouth, Hagrid lifts him and places him onto Buckbeak’s back. 

_Tell me he isn’t going to_ \- Hagrid gives the beast one pat on the butt and the two are off, soaring over the sky like it isn’t the single most dangerous thing Potter has done. Really! No saddle, no instructions on how to ride it, _nothing._ Although, if he thinks about it, Potter does something stupid like this _every other week_ . It’s a wonder the boy is still alive at all and it pisses off Draco so much that when they land and Potter is _bloody smiling_ he decides enough is enough. 

When Hagrid releases the rest of Buckbeaks’s friends, the whole class pairs up to attempt the same idiotic thing as Potter, and given his luck, Draco winds up with Buckbeak himself. 

As much as he hates to admit it, the creature isn’t that bad. Crabbe and Goyle keep a good distance away, enough that he can speak freely. 

“You’re really quite stunning up close,” he whispers, “although for a moment you really did scare me. You would never hurt Potter though, would you? I agree that he’s tempting to hex but Merlin having him hurt is a headache for everyone.”

Buckbeak nods, easing his head under Draco’s hand like he’s saying ‘I get it’. It almost makes Draco smile, but then he feels those stupid emerald eyes watching him. 

“Annoying,” He continues loudly so that Potter will _get his bloody eyes_ elsewhere. “I bet you’re not dangerous at all, are you? Giant beast…” 

Buckbeak takes offense and he can feel it, the creature tears it head up, nicking its beak against the wound on his arm and _fuck_ it hurts. Draco flinches back instinctively, clutching the wound to his chest. _Fuck_ he can feel the blood oozing between his finger. To his left, Blaise yells. 

“Professor! Draco is-“

Crabbe and Goyle let out screams, it’s only then that he realizes Buckbeak has lost it. Raised on his back legs, talons on the air. _Oh fuck please don’t-_ Hagrid grabs the beast by its neck, and suddenly Draco feels a little light headed. There’s a lot of blood everywhere, dripping through his fingers and staining his robes. Blaise looks horrified, and even Potter and crew look a little concerned. Someone hoists him up in big arms, to his right he vaguely hears Granger say “He needs Madam Pomfrey!” and is suddenly very thankful to have her in this class. 

“My father will hear about this!” he tries to warn whoever’s carrying him. 

“I know, I know, he’ll hex me won’t he?” 

Ah; so it’s Hagrid who’s carrying him. He would be mortified if he wasn’t so thankful to have something warm keeping him from losing his grip on reality. 

“No you don’t understand,” he tries again, aware enough to know they’re almost at the castle doors and far away that no one will hear him, “He’ll hear about this and try to-“ 

“Draco?” 

He recognizes the voice as Dumbledore and almost sighs in relief. If anyone could help him now it would be the headmaster. 

“Dear heavens child! What happened?” Dumbledore asks, following them to the infirmary. He has to wait for Madam Pomfrey to gasp and tear open the arm of his robes. The room goes cold. 

“Hagrid, might I suggest you return to your hut and make sure the Hippogriffs are seen too? I’ll report to you later about Mr. Malfoy’s condition.”

The giant looks like he wants to argue, but there’s no point in resisting Dumbledore, so he turns and goes. Madam Pomfrey bustles over to her medicine cabinet, giving Dumbledore the chance to lean closer. 

“Draco, creatures like Buckbeak do not make these types of injuries. I am curious as to what happened.”

Without giving Draco time to respond Madam Pomfrey returns, bandages and ointment in tow. It doesn’t hurt nearly as much as he thought it would, as a matter of fact it’s over in the blink of an eye and she leaves the two males alone, as if sensing that a private conversation needed to be had. 

“Hippogriff wounds are normally jagged, claws and beaks never make for a clean cut, you see, nor a deep one as they never aim to kill, merely scare off. So tell me, where _did_ this mysterious, perfectly and deeply carved wound come from? And why has it not been healed correctly?” 

“It’s nothing, headmaster.”

Dumbledore doesn’t look like he’s buying one syllable of Draco’s bullshit. 

“Very well, but until these strange circumstances are uncovered, I’m afraid you’ll have to forgo classes. Oh, and I will be alerting your Head of House of this most unfortunate occurrence.” 

And, like some type of fucked up karma, Dumbledore is out of the room before Draco can even think of a protest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> draco; I am Strong and Independent  
> the entirety of Hogwarts; no you're not


	4. Deepest Fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Is that a threat?” Potter asks. 
> 
> “Not a threat,” Draco slides his eyes over to the boy next to him, “A warning.”

Dumbledore keeps him in the hospital wing for three whole days before he breaks, apparently social contact really is all that important after his hellish summer. He practically begs to see the headmaster early Thursday morning, and with all the whining he’d been doing, Madam Pomfrey is more than happy to take him there. 

The old coot is waiting behind his desk and before Draco can rant and rave at him, a small ball of white tackles him into a chair. 

“LuLu!” 

“She’s been quite distraught about your disappearance, as have Snape and your friends.”

His kitten purrs up at him, climbing all over as if making sure he was okay, and when she sees the brace he’s been forced to wear to keep damned ointment on, she growls. “It’s okay girl, just a small set back is all.” 

“A small set back with rather large consequences that I can only assume you’ve come to share.”

Draco scowls at him, but LuLu is in his lap, and to his delight, Fawkes comes to perch on his shoulder. He greets the animal to avoid Dumbledore’s question, which doesn’t last long. 

“Mr. Malfoy. Where did you get that wound?” 

“From an ebony knife, headmaster.” 

Dumbledore lets out a frustrated sigh, and Draco almost revels in it, until the man opens his mouth again. There's nothing like irritating a teacher, unless that teacher just so happened to be Dumbledore. 

“Ebony wounds that don’t heal and Dementors that don’t make you faint? What exactly have you been up to this summer?” 

Fuck, he's in for it now. 

“Nothing too drastic, father wasn’t happy about losing a valued house elf, and he wanted information that I refused to give him. I’m really surprised he didn’t try more drastic measures.” 

“Such as Veritaserum?” 

Draco’s blood runs cold. He swallows. “Yes, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to resist that.” 

A shiver runs down his spine at Dumbledore’s smile. He’d managed to piss off the most powerful wizard in the world, great. 

“Then perhaps we should begin lessons against it. Would you like to start now? I’ll take some with you.”

No, no he would not thank you very much, but Dumbledore is already reaching into his desk and stepping around to pour the substance into Draco’s tea and then his own cup. 

“All for the good of the cause, isn’t it? Won’t you humor me for a bit?” 

Damn it. Damn Dumbledore. Damn the whole lot of them. Draco takes a sip, knowing there’s no other way out and he’s losing one of his best protection methods; lying. On the plus side, the two wizards stand on equal footing. 

“Good,” Dumbledore smiles. “How has your day been so far?” 

Draco raises an eyebrow at the question, but doesn’t feel the need to lie or answer truthfully. He settles for somewhere in the middle, figuring the potion hasn’t taken effect yet. 

“It’s been fine, how about yours?”

“Rather long for it to only be ten. What did you name your Kneazle?” 

“Parvos Lumen, but I call her LuLu. Do you know the origin?” 

Dumbledore smiles, “ _Little Light_ in Latin, I do believe. Quite fitting for a creature such as she. Who got her for you?” 

“My mother. It was a late birthday gift. Why did you take Veritaserum too?” 

“So that we would be on fair playing grounds, Draco.”

They take another sip of tea and honestly, if it’s going to be this easy, Draco’s quite sure he can do this all day long. Naturally Dumbledore’s follow up question fucks that idea over. 

“So your mother got you LuLu, what is the story behind your cut?” 

It’s spewing out of his mouth before he can stop it. 

“My father did it. Mother got us matching ebony knives, only his is bigger and scarier looking, mine is merely for show. One day during our torture sessions he decided curses weren’t enough so he cut me while I was under the Cruciatus.”

Dumbledore looks horrified, but not as freaked out as Draco feels, “No! Wait! I wasn’t supposed to tell you that! You can’t know-“

“Does he have these ‘torture’ sessions often?” 

“Every night.” Draco answers automatically. “Before mother came home he would sometimes let it last for days.” He quickly comes back to his senses, “But you’re _not supposed to know this!_ ”

Dumbledore marches on, “And how did you get so familiar with Dementors?” 

“Father has them in a room in our house and when he was too busy to hurt me himself he would stick me in there and leave me for hours on end.” Draco shakes his head, glaring at the man in front of him, “Why do you care?!” 

Dumbledore shoots hum a sad smile, but answers truthfully. “Because you are as much a son to me as Severus is. I know it can’t be easy and I worry about you. If you had come to me sooner, some of these issues might have been avoided. For one, we’ll need to teach you about protecting yourself against Dementors, and we’ll have to teach you potions to heal dark arts wounds.”

“I have a dark arts wound?” 

“The wound on your arm, it’s not healing because of the dark magic I suspect was on the blade. Normal healing potions and spells won’t work on it, you’ll have to keep your cast until we can speak to Severus about this. And yes, I will be speaking to Severus about this. All of this.”

“Why?” 

“Because, Draco,” Dumbledore shakes his head, “We both consider you family. You of all people should know how valuable that is. Now, I do believe I’ve crossed a line here, allow me to get you the antidote and you can be on your way to class. If you hurry I believe you can make it to Potions on time.” 

He doesn’t speak again until five minutes after the antidote is taken, and even that is just to tell the headmaster that he hopes his day improves. Then he takes LuLu and all but runs out the door, only pausing to put on the easiest façade he can muster, arrogance a little too difficult and feeling too shaken up to go for spiteful, he settles on confidence and strides into the classroom a full ten minutes late. 

Pansy almost tackles him. “I have been _worried sick_!” she whispers, and then, a little louder, “Does it hurt?” 

“A bit.” He lies, the bloody thing throbs with every breath he takes, but she doesn’t need to know that. He sends a quick wink to Crabbe and Goyle to let the two of them know he’s okay before settling in the empty seat next to Blaise. For some odd reason, Potter’s group is rather close today, he can feel green eyes on him all over again and starts missing the seclusion of his hospital bed. 

“You know,” Blaise says, narrowing his eyes, “I’ve heard Hippogriff wounds are supposed to be jagged, funny that yours is a straight line. It almost looks like a knife wound.” 

Draco stiffens, so does Potter, _fuck._ “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Settle down.” Snape draws out, and even though he’s terrified of looking into the man’s eyes he does. Nothing is in them, except relief buried so deep Draco almost misses it. 

Making a new potion today, Snape also thought having new partners would be hilarious, most likely a punishment for him being gone so long. His partner, by chance he’s sure, is none other than Potter and Weasley. Merlin he’s going to be sick. 

“Sir,” he begins rather nicely, fulling intending to weasel his way out of the class entirely, “I’m afraid I can’t cut correctly because of-“

“Weasley cut Draco’s roots for him.”

Oh, on second thought maybe this is a ‘welcome back’ present. 

“There’s nothing wrong with your arm” Weasley hisses. Draco’s half tempted to open the bandages and _show_ him, but he’s far too above it. Plus that would worry Pansy and Blaise, who already look like he’s given them grey hair. 

“You heard Professor Snape,” he sighs, somehow making it sound like an insult, he really is rather good at this, “Cut my roots.” 

Weasley’s three seconds away from exploding, something Draco would love to see, but Potter steps in to save the day as always. 

“Ron, you go gather the rest of the ingredients, I’ll deal with Malfoy.”

“Deal with me, Potter? Gonna finish what Buckbeak started?” It’s a weak retort, but he can’t manage anything else. 

“Please. We both know that wound didn’t come from Buckbeak,” Potter replies easily, never looking up from cutting annoyingly perfect roots. 

“How did you-“

“I didn’t. Your reaction just told me.” 

_Bloody fuck…._ ”Stop toying with me, Potter, you won’t like the result.”

Weasley quickly approaches the table and thankfully ends the conversation. Draco doesn’t say ‘thank you’ when Potter finishes prepping for him, but he does dial back his insults. 

And then Weasley strikes. “Your bloody arm isn’t even injured is it? I bet you're just milking it to get Hagrid in trouble.” 

He is _not._ As a matter of fact, he’s been purposefully lying in his letters to his mother, he hadn’t written one to his father since the beginning of last year. Draco glares before he can stop himself. “Have you _seen_ your friend Hagrid lately?” 

The two at his table stiffen. Weasley glares. “I swear if you do anything to hurt him-“

“I’m a student, idiot, I wouldn’t be able to hurt him. My father is the one you _should_ be worried about.”

“Is that a threat?” Potter asks. 

“Not a threat,” Draco slides his eyes over to the boy next to him, “A warning.”

“So you’re trying to get Hagrid fired then?! What the bloody hell is your problem?!”

Draco narrows his eyes at Weasley, “ _I_ am not doing anything, if anyone gets Hagrid fired it will be himself and this school system! Clearly he had no training in teaching, no one bothered to tell him simple rules like ‘refrain from bringing in creatures that can hurt your students until at least week four’, and he didn’t even _bother_ going over the course material! Once my father hears about this-”

“We all know what your father’s like, prat” Potter sips. He means it in more ways than one and right as Draco’s prepared to show him exactly where he can shove that information, Seamus Finnegan leans over their table.

“Hey Harry!” he grins, Draco swallows down a sudden bout of jealousy he has no idea existed, “Did you hear? Apparently Sirius Black has been spotted!”

 _Fucking shitbags_ ….He knew there was something Dumbledore and Snape had been keeping from him. On the plus side, surely he wasn’t close.

“Not too far from here! A muggle saw ‘m so they don’t really know, ya know, just thought he was an ordinary criminal.”

Draco is going to go bald from stress. There’s no other future for him with watching over the idiot who’s _smirking_ at Finnegan’s story. Like he wasn’t the least bit concerned about….Draco sucks in air. Potter doesn’t know.

“Need something else, Malfoy?” Weasley sneers, and when Potter turns that glare back on him Draco finds a rather childish way to get back at him for the remark about his father.

“Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handedly, Potter?” 

He’s begging for the boy to say no, but Potter is every bit a courageous idiot, replying with a simple, “Yeah, that’s right.” 

Merlin couldn’t save him from throttling the moron in his sleep tonight. See if he doesn’t sneak into the Gryffindor dorm rooms tonight and beat Potter with his own pillow. Watch him physically tie the imbecile down and-his mouth is running without his brain again.

“Of course, if it were me, I wouldn’t be acting like a good little boy such as yourself, I’d be out there looking for him. Nothing says revenge like a dead body, Potter.”

Maybe he’ll just smother himself with a pillow. It really would deal with a majority of his problems. His dad couldn’t ‘train’ him if he were dead, he couldn’t provoke Potter if he were dead, he could even stop worrying the people he cared about. Perhaps that’s a topic for another time, one where Weasley didn’t just ask a question he answers without his brain, and only Salazar knew where it had gone.

“You don’t know, do you?” 

It comes off rude, but Potter’s eyes widen when he looks into Draco’s face. Surely he can’t see the horror, the sadness, the worry on it. Draco hopes not. 

“What are you talking about?” 

Draco can’t bring himself to tell the boy. Strange because it would be the perfect teasing material, but there are some lines that should never be crossed, and this was one of them. Instead he focused his attention on Snape completing the lesson and doing something to someone’s toad. From the look on Longbottom’s face, it wasn’t hard to guess what happened.

\----------

“Where _were_ you?” Pansy immediately starts the second he sits down for lunch. She blocks his left, Blaise on his right, Crabbe and Goyle in front of him. With nowhere to run, and barely any energy to spare, Draco sighs.

“I had to stay in the hospital wing for a few days, the cut was strangely deep.” 

“Hippogriffs don’t make deep cuts, Draco. What really happened?”

He looks between them, Pansy and her big eyed pug-face, giving him the same concerning look his mother had the one time he fell out of a tree. Blaise, worry etched into his brow, looking like he’d aged overnight. 

“Later. I promise I’ll tell you later.”

“And when will that be?” Pansy snaps. Draco’s energy seems to return at the remark, filled with anger and annoyance.

“When I decide to!” He glares, grabbing his things and leaving the table. 

Draco marches out of the Great Hall and towards his next class, which should be starting in roughly thirty minutes. Pausing outside the door, he turns his head to the window. Despite there being Dementors around every corner, it’s beautiful beyond the walls of the castle. Like a perfect fall day, trees beginning to brown, cool breezes he can feel through the glass, it reminds him of his first broom ride. Quidditch would be starting soon, and if he got to fly in this weather it would make up for the shitty start of the year.

“Draco?”

At his name, he turns away from the sun to see Lupin giving him a sort of odd look, it reminds him far too much of Dumbledore, but warms him a bit anyways. 

“Good morning, Professor.”

“Skipping lunch are we? Growing boys need to eat, you know that.”

“I know, sir, the hall was just a bit too crowded for me today.”

Lupin holds open the Defense Against the Dark Arts door, “Well, I’m not much company, but you’re welcome to eat with me. I keep a few bits of fruit in the classroom in case my students get light headed, you’re welcome to it.”

Draco takes one last look outside and smiles, “I think I might take you up on that.”

The two walk in and Draco soon finds himself opposite to a man he doesn’t know, filled with questions, and considering the week he’s had, he asks a few.

“Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, why does Professor Snape seem to hate you so much? Every time we’ve interacted, you’ve been nothing but kind, you seem to always have the betterment of your students in mind, and you’re proficient in your field, forgive me, but I don’t get it.”

Lupin lets out a sigh and Draco briefly wonders how old the man actually is. 

“Well, I wasn’t always the nice person you know me to be. Life changes people, Draco, and when I first came to Hogwarts, I’m afraid I was a bit of a bully, my whole group of friends were, and Professor Snape seemed to take the brunt of all our jokes. We did some very mean things to him, things that can’t simply be forgotten, I actually don’t blame him for hating me as much as he does, I think it’s pretty understandable. Between the two of us, there are things I wish I could take back, perhaps if we had been kinder to Snape, something good would have come out of it. You never know what benefits a new friendship can bring.” 

Draco nods and although he still has questions, a bigger, much more serious thought looms over him. If he were kinder to Potter, would something good come out of it? If he had accepted the boy’s friendship, what would it be like? To call him Harry, to keep him from making such stupid ideas, to smile and laugh with him? Would it be okay for him to want such a thing?

“Speaking of kindness, Dumbledore has told me he wants you to learn how to fight off Dementors, I was thinking of a ‘special project’ as a cover? Would that work for you?”

“Yes,” Draco vaguely hears the lunch bell ring, “It would be perfect.”

“Great! I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Lupin replies, disappearing into his office. He doesn’t reemerge until the class is all seated and out of some act of good, Blaise doesn’t do anything but stand beside him and squeeze his hand lightly, an apology and an understanding wrapped into one. Even though he doesn’t want to, his eyes follow Potter when he walks in, and he can’t help but wonder what it would be like if they stood together too.

“Good morning class!” Lupin drew them out of their heads, “Leave your bags, you won’t need them where we’re going, just your wands.”

Intrigued, the class does as they are told, following the professor out of the class and down the hallway, Draco watches in amazement with the way Lupin deals with Peeves and smiles to himself. Snape be damned, he liked this teacher. They migrate to a secluded classroom with nothing but a wobbly wardrobe inside, Draco is sure to keep an eye on it. Lupin explains the bogart inside, such nasty creatures, but he hadn’t known they were allergic to laughter of all things, who did they think they were? Snape? 

Speaking of Snape, it’s no surprise to find that he’s Longbottom’s worst fear, but the image of the man in god-awful clothing, complete with handbag and an outrageously big hat sends him and the rest of the class to tears. They line up to take turns and one by one he sees the funniest things he never dreamt of, spiders on roller skates, snakes turning into clowns, a banshee turning into a rat, and then it hits him right as Potter steps up for his turn.

What was Potter’s worst fear? The Dark Lord? His friend’s dead? A Dementor? That would be a sight for the class, no matter which one of them came true. And what was Draco’s worst fear? Well that was obvious, but if he stayed at the back of the line long enough, he could avoid it. He's never been more thankful for Lupin when he steps in and saves the class from both Potter’s and his own worst fear. 

No one would want to see the Dark Lord, and Draco was sure a few heads would roll if he stepped up and a dead Harry Potter looked back at him.


	5. History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Very well then,” Dumbledore puts down his books, “To answer your question I need to clarify that it was Severus who told you all these facts?”
> 
> “Yes.” 

Life went on at Hogwarts, Pansy did eventually forgive him for his outburst at lunch, and he had even cornered Snape and Dumbledore to talk about Black and why they should be Worried and Very Alarmed, which they both were but hadn’t thought to tell him in light of his adventures the first day back. Hogwarts was, and remains, impenetrable. A small favor really. Defense Against the Dark Arts quickly became one of his favorite classes, never boring and with a teacher who, despite his awful robes, was kind and unusual. Maybe during Christmas break Lupin would find himself with a new wardrobe, but who’s to say. 

LuLu becomes an essential part of his life. He wakes up early and plays with her, studies with her by his side, watches his friends absently pet her during conversations. One day the two of them take a walk, and when they run into Lupin and LuLu rubs all over his tattered legs, Draco can’t help but smile. He does notice that as the weather grows cooler, no doubt a result of having so many Dementors nearby, she seeks out more warmth. Staying closer to people with body heat, or lounging in front of whatever fireplace Draco is by. Perhaps he would get her a little wardrobe of her own too, a collar for one, and at least five sweaters to match it.

Quidditch starts up and Draco’s thrilled to see Flint and the crew again, easily sharing laughs and diving head first into training sessions to beat the unbeatable Potter. The practices are long and grueling, but worth every moment. His cut stops him from playing and dear Merlin had _that_ been a conversation. He’d been forced to show Flint the wound that never really stopped bleeding and then gotten the most awkward talking to of his life, buy his captain no less.

Snape drags him to the Potions labs every Tuesday and Thursday before practice to help find a cure for his arm because, naturally, his father used some curse not even Dumbledore could figure out, so far the trial and eras weren’t going well. Draco had probably used up half the school’s reservoir of Blood Replenishing potions by now. 

On Mondays and Wednesdays he would meet with Lupin to try and tackle Dementors, which wasn’t easy because he refused to use the bogart and catching real ones isn’t exactly easy work. He knows that one day Lupin will force him to face the creature, and he will...as soon as he can figure out an explanation for what he’ll see, that is. Weeks pass in flashes and before he knows it he’s waking up to one of his favorite days.

It’s the Halloween Hogsmeade weekend, and he wouldn’t miss this year’s tricks for the world. 

“Really, Draco?! You know I hate peanut butter!” 

Pansy, Blaise, and Draco all bust out laughing at the face Goyle pulls, Crabbe reaching over him to eat the rest of the enchanted chocolate. So far Draco had hexed twenty five students, dyed Blaise’s hair bright green for an entire hour, gotten Pansy with a laughter potion that only lasted for thirty minutes, stuck Crabbe in place for ten minutes, and left some rather saucy material open on Snape’s desk.

He himself had only gotten pranked roughly three times. Pansy with an obnoxiously loud alarm that LuLu had vehemently protested against, Blaise’s hair revenge only his had been pink, Crabbe and Goyle had teamed up on him and given him a spicy chocolate that was so hot it made his tongue go numb for a few moments.

All in a day's work, he really was having fun. 

Their group crammed into one table in Honeydukes, laughing around mugs of sodas and pretending like the outside world didn’t exist. He did go ahead and buy LuLu a few sweaters just because he didn’t know when their next trip would be and he couldn’t have his little light walking around cold. Pansy and Blaise had made fun of him the whole time until they returned and saw her in a cashmere one and proceeded to _melt_. It wasn’t their fault, the creature really was too cute for her own good. They’re all having a great day, so perfect nothing could taint it.

Nothing except going to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast and finding out that Sirius Black, the murder out to get Potter, was in the fucking building and had ruined the Fat Lady’s painting. 

“This is an issue.”

“Yeah, no fucking kidding.” 

Blaise raises an eyebrow at him and fuck, he really did just say that in front of at least five people, not to mention the Great Hall is filled with listening ears and prying eyes. Draco quickly amends.

“I can’t believe we’re having to use sleeping bags of all things, how are we supposed to sleep like this? It’s _cold_ too!”

That seems more believable for him, heads that had turned rolling their eyes and looking away. All accept the four idiots in front of him, particularly the stupid boyish grin Blaise gives him.

“Don’t worry, princess, I’ll keep you warm-”

“Get off of me!” 

Pansy giggles, “Honestly, Draco, if you wanted some private time with Blaise you’ll just have to wait.”

“What a shame,” Draco deadpans back, keeping his hands against Blaise’s chest so the boy can’t reach him. 

“Don’t listen to him, Pans, he’s truly heartbroken!” 

Draco glares at Blaise, but it doesn’t do much besides make his friends snicker and reduce him to a smiling mess. Pansy hooks her arm into his free one, “Think about it like this, it’s still Halloween….we still have time for a few last minute pranks.”

“I think not, Miss Parkinson.” The trio turns to see Snape looming over them, eyebrow raised and sneer in place, “You’ll have to conduct your activities without Mr. Malfoy, as he will be coming with _me_.”

“But sir!” Blaise cries, “There’s a killer out there!” 

“I am well aware of that, Mr. Zabini, are you implying that Draco is not safe with me?”

Pansy steps in to save the day, placing one perfectly manicured hand on Blaise’s chest, “Of course not, Professor, we just worry about Draco’s inability to stay out of trouble. You saw what happened at the beginning of the year, we’re just afraid he’ll get himself hurt again is all.”

Draco rolls his eyes, they sound like him with Potter. Really? Don’t they realize how overprotective they’re being? He bids them goodnight, tasking Crabbe and Goyle to look after them, and sneaks out of the Great Hall behind Snape.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Draco asks once they’re well out of earshot. 

Snape whirls around to face him, dragging him to the side and leaning down so they’re eye to eye. 

“Listen to me, and listen closely. Dumbledore hasn’t told you this, he doesn’t want you to be biased towards your teachers, but I think you should know all the facts.”

“The facts?”

“Yes,” Snape nods, “You see, I assume you know about the bloody Marauders, but you haven’t been told about a relationship that existed within that little group. It was kept very secret, little people know about it, and I am one of those few. Sirius Black is more to some people than they let on.”

“What do you mean?” Draco whispers back.

Snape takes a deep breath, “Sirius Black was Lupin’s lover until the moment he went to Azkaban. Tell me, Draco, wouldn’t you let your lover in to finish what he started?”

\----------

Draco keeps a very close eye on Lupin the next few days, and dear Merlin is he starting to look bad. 

The castle had been as empty as he was beginning to feel, they searched every room, every nook and cranny, even the unused and locked storage cabinets. Despite all that, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Lupin had something to do with it all. Quidditch was due to begin that Saturday, and Draco couldn’t even be happy about it. 

Weirder than his sudden suspicion of Lupin was walking into Defense Against the Dark Arts and seeing Snape in place of his gruffy professor. 

“Where’s Lupin?” He asked, the first in the room like always. Snape doesn’t answer, another strange occurrence. 

He doesn’t find out what’s going on until the very beginning of class when the Potion’s Master very calmly and cooley said “Professor Lupin is sick today, I am your teacher. Turn to page 394”

Potter, naturally, came hurling in ten minutes late, spouting an apology to Professor Lupin only to have Snape glare him into submission. A sight to see that cheered Draco up quite nicely, until he looked down at his book and realized they were studying werewolves. What an odd thing to jump to. Was there something Snape was trying to tell them? His lessons always had a point to them and-

“A full moon is coming soon, maybe one will eat this sorry excuse you call work, _Weasley_.” 

A full moon? Soon? So soon to Lupin being sick? And hadn’t he looked ghastly on the train, right after a full moon? What was…. Draco hangs behind after class, watching Weasley get detention only a plus for the question he’s about to ask. As soon as the door is shut and it’s just him and Snape, he speaks.

“Lupin is a werewolf, then?”

Snape nods ever so subtly, “You should be on to your next class, if you keep asking questions you already know the answers to you’ll be late.” 

\----------

Draco was, indeed, very late for his next class. So late, in fact, he accidentally missed the whole thing while he was in Dumbledore’s study.

“You mean to tell me you let a werewolf who’s in love with _Sirius Black_ work at your school where _Harry Potter,_ the one person Black wants to _brutally murder,_ is?!”

“Good afternoon to you as well, Draco.” 

“Headmaster,” Draco sighs, slinking down in the empty chair beside the one Dumbledore had been reading in before he stormed into the man’s office, “I respect you more than anyone in the world, I dare even say I consider you an eccentric grandfather, so please know I ask this with all the courtesy available, _what were you thinking?!_ ”

Dumbledore gins at him, “Would you like a lemon drop before we begin?” 

The question throws him off for a moment, anger forgotten, “Ah-no, not right now, I’m not hungry.”

“Very well then,” Dumbledore puts down his books, “To answer your question I need to clarify that it was Severus who told you all these facts?”

“Yes.” 

“I see.” The old man waves his hand and Fawkes appears in the room, happily messing up Draco’s hair with his beak, he can’t find it in himself to stop the phoenix.

“A few things, Draco, are best to be learned about from a civil point of view. Severus has a deep hatred for those boys, he always had. It started back in their first year, as you can imagine, he was not popular among peers. I think in total he had two true friends, and one of them was lost to the group of boys, he called her that forsaken name out of anger once, and lost her forever. That combined with the bullying the boys did has tainted his view on them as people forever, but despite his opinions, I know the truth.”

“What would losing one friend matter?”

Dumbledore’s smile is sad this time. “Imagine if Miss Parkinson or Mr. Zabini were muggle-born, and that cost you their friendship.”

His life without Pansy and Blaise? “That’s unthinkable, sir, I would never lose them over something so stupid.”

“I’m sure that is what Severus thought too, and yet….”

Draco sits in silence for a moment, trying to wrap his head around a life without his friends. It’s unbearable, to say the least, so he says, “Sir. I fail to see how this affects my original question.”

“Well, the boys would play pranks on Severus, much like you Slytherins during Halloween, do not give me that look, I am old not blind. So here, after Severus has lost so much and been tormented by the boys, Lupin is back. He was very upset when I told him, but it does not change the fact that he is far too biased to make a clear judgement. It also does not change the fact that Lupin is one of the most trustworthy friends I have. His condition was gained trying to save someone he loved, could you really hold that against him?”

“Well, no sir, I guess not-”

“And you’ve seen how he cares for his students, do you really think he would put them in danger for any reason?”

“No, but-”

“Then it is settled! We have come to an agreement, now you must excuse me, I have a meeting with Severus in roughly five minutes, I would assume he is not going to be pleased that I divulged so much of his personal life to you.”

Ignoring the fact that he was very blatantly being kicked out, Draco strode out of the office still very confused, but a lot less angry. He was so deep in his thoughts about life without friends, Snape’s bullying, and Potter’s safety that he didn’t even see the boy he was walking right into.

“Ow!”

“Shit!”

The two tumbled to the floor, bags spilling all over and Marlin help him he was going to kill whatever asshole got in his way. As soon as he got through collecting his belongings he was going to-

“I believe this is yours.”

Draco looks up at the voice to see, holy mother of Salazar, the most beautiful man he’d ever seen. Unfortunately wearing Hufflepuff robes, the tall auburn-headed boy smiled at him with twinkling grey-eyes, long fingers holding out one of Draco’s notebooks. 

“Are you okay? You didn’t hit your head when you fell, did you? Shall I take you to Madam Pomfrey?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Draco quickly comes to his sense with his gawking exposed, “And I do believe it was _I_ who ran into _you_.”

“Is that an apology? From Malfoy?”

Merlin, he’s funny too? “If you tell anyone I’ll have to hex you, can’t have my reputation being ruined and all. I’m amazed it’s traveled so far.”

The boy flashes him that charming smile again, “We warn all our first year Huffles to be wary of you, Halloween your first year really had a few of them sacred.”

“And who do I have to thank for my infamy?” Draco asks, raising one eyebrow.

“Cedric Diggory.”

“The Hufflepuff Seeker? Merlin! I barely recognize you out of your geer!” 

Cedric laughs, light and easy, “That’s Malfoy for you. I do try to stay out of trouble though.”

Lunch bells rings and Draco almost curses it. “Good luck on your game tomorrow, I hope you give Potter a run for his money.”

“That’s the plan! And don’t worry, your secret niceness is safe with me.”

Maybe Hufflepuffs aren’t bad afterall...Draco watches him walk away before realizing he’s acting like a first year with a crush, turning on his heel and marching to the lunch room so Pansy and Blaise can give him shit for missing Transfiguration. Again.

\----------

The morning of the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game is filled with thunder and rain so hard LuLu refuses to come out of bed. He’s half tempted to stay in with her and sleep the storm away, but he’ll be damned if he misses this game. Pansy and Blaise tag along with him, forcing Crabbe and Goyle to stay in and actually _work_ on their assignments, not just stare at them. They all instantly regret it once they’re in the stands.

“I’m wearing two rain coats and _still_ getting soaked!”

“We heard you the first five times, Pansy darling-”

“Shut up! It’s starting!”

His friends make faces at him from his left and right, they had teased him the entire trip down and would no doubt be teasing him the entire trip back. Draco does not squeal when the game starts, but he does get joy from seeing Potter so lost in Cedric’s wake. He is supposed to be watching the yellow Seeker, but his eyes stray back to a certain scar face eyes time. Probably, no, most definitely, because Potter will end up getting hurt. It’s raining, it’s starting to get weirdly cold, lightning blinds them every five seconds, and that is plenty for the idiot to find some cursed way to injure himself. That’s the only reason Draco can’t stop watching him, he’s sure.

It all happens in a flash. The icey hopelessness that crawls over the stadium, the black figures surrounding them all. Pansy grabs his hand, he shrinks into Blaise’s side. And then he realizes the Dementors are going into the field, right where Potter is flying up into the sky. They surround him in front of the entire arena, and then everything stops.

The Dementors are going to kiss Potter. 

Or at least, that’s what it bloody looked liked, but then something worse happens and Draco can’t do anything but watch in horror, gripping his friend’s hands until it hurts as Potter falls off his broom and plummets to the ground. 

He hears screaming all around him, Dumbledore casts a spell, there’s a flash of light and the Dementors are gone but Potter….

Potter is lying face up on the ground, eyes closed and mouth open, and Draco, for once in his life, can’t think of anything worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if it wasn't clear, I def made Cedric Diggory Draco's gay awakening....oop


	6. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Being alive and living are two very different things, Professor.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know i said i would be gone for final week but i actually took all of them in one day and then slept for five hours and then wrote this

“Stop pacing, Draco, you’ll wake him.”

“I don’t care. Let him wake, at least then we’ll know if he has any internal damage.”

Snape sighs, not nearly annoyed or as understanding as Dumbledore. “For the last time, both Madam Pomfrey _and_ I looked him over, he’ll be as fit as a whistle in a few days. He’s already awoken once this afternoon. He is _fine_.”

Draco whirls on him. “ _Fine?!”_ he whisper-shouts at the insolent professor rolling his eyes, “ _Fine?!_ He was almost _bloody kissed_ by a _swarm of Dementors_ ! _How is that fine?!_ ”

Snape glares and Dumbledore doesn’t do much but let the corners of his mouth twitch ever so slightly. The headmaster had scarred most of the school with his rage, shooting spells at the beats, sending them running within a minute. Draco would have been terrified of the man next to him if he hadn’t wanted to use a few Unforgivables on them himself. In truth, he had stayed as his friends and the rest ran, frozen in the stands with his eyes trained on Potter to catch the rise and fall of his chest. He had watched in the freezing rain as Potter was carried off to the school, his friends and team behind him, and had been there when Cedric argued that he didn’t deserve the win, that he wouldn’t take it with how badly Potter had gotten hurt. Draco had stayed until Snape found him and told him Potter was fine, that he hadn’t even broken his glasses, and only then did he breathe. 

He’d been so scared. So immovably terrified. 

“The boy is alive, is he not?”

Potter _is_ alive, asleep on the hospital bed before them. True to Snape’s word his glasses weren’t broken, merely resting on his bedside table with water and various potions. Black hair fanned out over an unbroken face, his lips were even turned up in a smile as though he were having a sweet dream. He looked so peaceful Draco could almost forget, he would if he didn’t see the boy falling every time he closed his eyes. Draco also knows from personal experience that just because someone can sleep with a smile doesn’t mean they’re happy. Especially after being that close with Dementors. 

He meets Snape’s eyes with anger that makes the man step back.

“Being alive and living are two very different things, Professor.” 

Snape opens his mouth right as Dumbledore rises, silencing them both. “That is quite enough, Draco has a point, Severus. I believe you and I must speak with the rest of the staff about this occurrence. Draco, would you watch over Harry until I can return?”

“What should I do if he wakes up?” 

Dumbledore gives him a coy smile, “Do what you think is best for the boy, but remember what he has just gone through. Be kind if you can. Remember that the Truth is sometimes exactly what is called for.”

“Albus! Surely you don’t mean for Draco to tell-”

“I mean what I say, Severus. Hurry up now, the rest of the staff is waiting on us.”

Draco watches them go, old man practically pushes Snape out against his will. Then he turns his attention on Potter, still trying to accept that he’s here, he’s safe, and he’s just sleeping. It’s kind of hard when the boy sleeps like the dead and hasn’t even shifted. Merlin, people who sleep with no trouble make him sick. Honestly! Look at Potter, all resting and cozy under his blanket while Draco is pacing back and forth at foot of his stupid bed. Where did he get off on a good night's sleep? Is this how he always manages to get out of impossible situations alive? Was sleep really all that powerful? Maybe Draco would have to test it out after he got done jumping five feet into the air because Potter finally made a noise. 

He groans, sitting up slowly and glancing at Draco through very squinted eyes. “Ron? Why are you wearing a blonde wig? I swear if this is some type of fucked up joke I’m gonna-”

“Not Weasley.” Is all Draco can manage. It seems to be enough because Potter immediately feels around for his glasses. Once they’re thrown on and he can see Draco clearly, he frowns.

“What are _you_ doing here?”

Draco opens and closes his mouth a few times. If he told Potter...he would have to tell him everything. About being a spy, about how he had protected the boy, all the information he knew. It would completely expose him….but. Dumbledore clearly wanted it to happen. Last year, hadn’t he encouraged Draco to befriend Potter? Hadn’t he just told him to be honest? Just because he and Potter had a civil conversation didn’t mean he had to stop being a spy...it didn’t mean anything...him being by Potter’s bedside at two in the morning meant nothing, right?

Before he can make up his mind, the boy in the bed answers for him. “Lemme guess, going to save me from another Dementor attack?”

He could deny it, his chance is right here, he can make up some stupid excuse, it would be so easy to deny it. But Draco doesn’t say a word; he looks away. And that is an answer in itself.

Potter makes some sort of sound between a crazed laugh and a shocked gasp. “You are, aren’t you? Why else would you be here, unless you came to finish the job yourself. That would ruin last year’s work though, wouldn’t it? You don’t make any sense! One second you’re taunting me with my _dead_ parents, and the next you’re standing by my hospital bed? You’re bloody mental! Make up your mind, do you want to ruin my life or save it?!” 

Draco keeps his mouth shut. Arms cross, his eyes stare anywhere but Potter. He would walk away if he trusted the other not to do something stupid like follow him or get attacked the second he was left alone. Potter, apparently, does not like his response.

“Say something!” he all but yells, making Draco flinch and finally meet green eyes that are open. Not closed. Potter is sitting, not lying limp on the Quidditch field. Draco sucks in a deep breath.

“You fell.” 

His voice is weirdly quiet, but it recoils Potter like he had screamed. 

“I thought, we all thought, that you were dead….” the same scene flashes behind his eyes, over and over, but his voice grows stronger. It’s the most emotion he’s felt since he came back to school this year. “You have no idea what your death would do to the wizarding world, do you? You don’t know anything.” 

Potter’s anger fades. He looks about as confused as Draco feels, but he does snort a bit, “Well you were there the last time I tried to learn something. Someone wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information.” 

Merlin damn the smile tugging as his lips. Footsteps he knows as Snape’s echo from the hallway. Draco closes his eyes, speaking quickly “Look, Potter. You still want to know the truth, right? I promise you, I will answer any question you have. But not here. Not now. When I told you we can’t be friends, I meant it. You have to hate me, and I have to hate you.”

“Why?” 

“That,” Draco doesn’t even bother fighting his smile this time, “Is one of those questions I can’t answer right now.”

Potter rolls his eyes, “When _can_ you answer it?”

The footsteps draw nearer, Draco sighs. “When the time is right.”

And then Snape is near enough for Potter to close his eyes and pretend to be sleeping, Draco doesn’t miss the way he tenses up once he leaves the room. He curses himself and promises to talk to Dumbledore the second he wakes up tomorrow. Hopefully he didn’t just make an irreversible mistake, worse comes to worst, they could always Obliviate Potter...but something about that doesn’t sit right with him. LuLu cuddles extra close to him that night. 

\----------

Dumbledore had almost fucking hugged him when he told the old coot what had happened in the infirmary. Taking that as a good sign, he did finally feel the anxiety wearing away from his bones. For a long time there three potions hadn’t been enough, but he knew four were a little too dangerous. To remind Potter of their agreement, he kept picking on the boy, but he could tell Potter wasn’t really offended anymore. Somehow it made him feel a little lighter.

He was so relaxed after his conversation with Potter and Dumbledore, plus his first restful sleep in ages with LuLu to protect him _and_ a morning of games with his friends, a letter from his mother waiting for him as soon as wizard’s chest was done, that he actually managed to produce a Patronus. 

He had closed his eyes and imagined it, him and his mother laughing in the manor, before all this mess, just the two of them talking about some shopping trip. He thought about Potter being alive and almost grinning at him in the hospital wing. He thought about Pansy and Blaise, curled up on either side of him and talking about classes while a fire cackles in front of them. Draco really wasn’t sure which memory caused the surge of happiness powerful enough for a bright light to shoot out of his wand. He was so happy he finally managed to produce something he completely forgot to figure out what it was, until three heads of the same snake stared at him.

“Well...this is unusual…” Lupin said.

“What?” Draco asked, “Is it not good? I thought making a Patronus was a good thing? Did I do it wrong?”

Lupin laughs at him, “No you did it right! In fact it was amazing, you’ve just produced something I’ve never seen before, I’d ask Dumbledore about this if I were you. It’s got to mean something.”

Draco groaned, “Can I do anything that has no meaning? Just once, professor, I’d like to do something and it have no significance whatsoever.”

He probably shouldn’t have said anything, but Lupin just looks at him like he’s lost his mind. “What _are_ you talking about?”

“Nothing, Professor, absolutely nothing.”

Almost like some weird ironic trick of fate, his Patronus had to be abnormal and rare.

“It’s not a bad thing, Draco. Runespoors just have a tad bit more meaning than normal.”

“That is exactly what I’m annoyed about.”

Apparently, he had produced a three headed snake, known to be both associated with the Dark Arts and piece of mind. The three heads each had their own purpose, and the unfortunate wizards who possessed them were destined to suffer, having not one, but three life changing events in store for them. His left snakehead was the decision maker, the middle a dreamer, and the right a critic. Maintaining balance of the three was supposed to be one of the most difficult things in the world, but once it was done it’s power was rarely matched. 

It made sense if he really thought about it, and he does drag LuLu to the Astronomy tower so he can muse out loud to her and make sense of the bullshit. He’s already had one life altering decision: becoming Dumbledore’s spy. He had used all three to make that. Draco had dreamed of a life with and without the Dark Lord, criticized every plan to perfection, and only after careful consideration had he chosen. What would his next one be? 

Dumbledore had also told him that those with Runespoors had unbreakable mental strength, able to withstand so much before breaking. That would explain how he had survived so long in his father’s house. Merlin, why must everything in his life be so fucking complicated? 

December came at an alarming rate between classes, his Patronus lessons, Veritaserum lessons, Quidditch, and his friends growing more and more agitated with his secrets. Dumbledore was forcing Potter to stay for Christmas break so he would be safe from Black, and Draco wished he could share the same fate.

After not receiving a letter from his father for nearly a year, he had gotten one mere note demanding he come home for the holidays. Needless to say he didn’t trust it.

“Although the wards of the castle prevent flooing without permission and no one can Apparate into the building, I can tell you that Honeydukes never closes it’s floo...should you need the information…”

He had almost kissed Dumbledore on the spot. 

Speaking of Honeydukes, it’s exactly where he finds himself after exams. They’re due for a train ride tomorrow, but the staff had somehow deemed one last Hogsmeade trip to be safe. Piled in the same table as last time, his group of friends laughs over warm apple cider this time. 

Draco had somehow managed to pull mostly Outstandings out of his ass, Transfiguration being his only Exceeds Expectations. While he was disappointed, Pansy had been jealous. Even though her and Blaise had worked their asses off, they somehow wound up with three EEs and only two Os. Crabbe and Goyle were just happy to pass with Acceptables and no Trolls this year. 

“I’m serious, Draco, next semester Pans and I are studying with you, dammit! It’s not fair for you to get all Os while your friends struggle!”

“Maybe if you hadn’t spent a majority of your study time flirting, you would’ve done better! And I didn’t get all Os!”

Pansy rolls her eyes, “We’re still studying with you. I’ll have you know one of my two Os _was_ in Transfiguration.” 

Draco sticks his tongue out at her, which he regrets the second Blaise plops a grass flavored jelly bean on it. 

“You’re a right bastard.” He manages once he’s covered the taste up by nearly burning off his taste buds. Blaise just grins at him, starting up another conversation about how excited he is to meet his mom’s latest boyfriend, the one from summer having proved a tad bit too clingy for the woman. 

Draco looks out the window as he speaks, drowning out the story they’ve all heard before and spotting a group of rather suspicious people moving back towards Hogwarts; Mcgonagall, Minister Fudge, Hagrid, and Madam Rosmerta. A few seconds later Granger, Weasley, and Potter followed.

Funny, because he _knew_ Potter was supposed to be back at the school. Half of him wanted to go and let someone know that their precious hunted boy had escaped, but then he saw the mix of emotions on Scarhead’s face. 

Harry Potter looked like he was either going to burst into tears or murder everyone within five feet of him. Draco wondered for a moment what the hell could’ve happened, but it didn’t really take a long time for him to figure it out. 

Mcgonagall and Hagrid had been one of the few teachers who knew about Black’s connection to the Potters. Fudge was meeting with Dumbledore that night to express some sort of plan about the whole thing. Not to mention that Madam Rosmerta was more of a gossiping school girl than Pansy. 

Potter had just found out that Sirius Black had once been his father’s best friend. Draco’s suddenly glad to be going home for break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, just a heads up, the next chapter is going to be Dark and Difficult to deal with. I'm gonna put a trigger warning for it, but for those who have been following this chapter for chapter I want you to be very aware that even just playing out the scene in my head has been difficult, but it's essential for plot progression.


	7. Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Harry, why is Draco Malfoy’s Kneazle so taken with you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> most of this chapter is through Harry, also Draco gets Roughed Up and the next chapter will go into Detail on it so please BE WARNED

Somehow, in the short time he had been gone, the manor had gotten bigger and scary. Once he would giggle and hide in the many rooms, playing outside and sneaking between walls. The manor was his home, there was always music playing and his mother and father were always there to catch him when he climbed too high in the trees out back.

Now he sat on the other end of the long dinner table, eating in deafening wordlessness, chewing the only sound despite there being two people in the room.

His father had not greeted him, in fact this was their first interaction since he arrived yesterday. Narcissa was still in Paris and had no idea her son was home. Draco had left LuLu at Hogwarts out of fear that his father would hurt her somehow, but Lucius had barely acknowledged him the past day. It was almost nice…

“I understand that mistake of an existence, Hagrid, has not been punished for the wound he inflicted on your arm…” 

Lucius’s voice echoes in the dinner hall, loud and unwelcome. Draco gulps, they’re playing a game tonight. “He has,” Draco begins carefully, “Strangely, some are convinced the wound did not come from the Hippogriff.”

“Strange indeed. I’ll simply have to take care of that, won’t I?”

Draco stiffens. “What do you mean? There is nothing to take care of.” 

“The creature hurt you, that is unacceptable! It must be put down immediately-”

“ _You_ hurt me!” Draco retorts before he can stop himself, his father calmly puts down his fork and knife.

The distance between them couldn’t give him time to prepare even if he could see into the future. One second Lucius is 30 chairs away from him, and the next Draco is being held by his throat against the wall. 

“ _I_ hurt you?! No, you insolent fool! I make you _strong!_ I purge the weakness that has poisoned you and _I will_ see that filthy animal dead!” 

Draco struggles against his hold, “Buckbeak hasn’t done anything wrong! He’s innocent-”

Lucius glares at him and suddenly he can’t speak anymore, like his air pipes are clogging. His father has him in some type of hold by his wand, he can’t even blink.

“Oh, son, all innocents die eventually.” 

Then he’s moving, suspended by nothing. Lucius takes him to a familiar room where the air is colder than the snow falling outside. His wand is removed and put right by the window, a taunt no doubt, because then Draco is stripped to a thin t-shirt and shorts, and thrown into the room with ten Dementors. He’s too busy screaming to hear it lock.

\----------

So far, Harry Potter is having a weird Christmas break. Ron and Hermione had drug him to see Hagrid on the second day, which had been a disaster that somehow resulted in them going to the library- a place he was hoping to avoid on break. It’s for a good cause though, and midway through his book a small white ball of fluff had hopped onto his lap and begun purring. 

“Um?” 

Hermione and Ron looked over at the white kitten in his lap, Ron moving to pet it within a second while Hermione frowned. 

“Harry, why is Draco Malfoy’s Kneazle so taken with you?”

Ron recoils, “This adorable thing is _Malfoy’s?!_ ” 

“I think her name is LuLu?” Harry gets a meow in return as the thing curls back in his lap, still purring. 

Hermione puts her books down, “Harry. Do you know anything about Kneazles?”

Harry shakes his head ‘no’, Ron, apparently over his animosity or lured by the cute noises the thing makes, joins him in petting her. Hermione doesn't like it one bit.

“Listen to me, both of you. This is very weird. Kneazles are known for their magical abilities. They protect their owners, are extremely loyal, and, this is the weird part you _both_ need to listen to!” 

Ron and Harry look up from LuLu at her soft yell, not liking her expression.

“Kneazles only like people who are good for their owner. Like how Crookshanks likes the two of you, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley, my parents, and Dumbledore. Do you understand? LuLu is Malfoy’s Kneazle, she shouldn’t like us!” 

They don’t point out that during her speech she had inched closer and began lightly brushing her thumb across a perky white ear. LuLu gives her a questioning look, and then a single lick on her hand. 

“See?!” Hermione takes a second to control her voice, “LuLu gave me a kiss, she’s purring in your lap! That isn’t natural; we’re Malfoy’s enemies, aren’t we? He hates us!”

Ron shrugs, “Maybe she just wants to spend time with people who _aren’t_ crazy.”

LuLu stands and glares at him for the remark, only calming once Harry picks her up and rubs between her ears. “Probably shouldn’t insult her owner in front of her….”

“Whatever, she is adorable and sweet, but I’m willing to bet my little Crookshanks won’t like her, plus we have work to do.” 

Harry does put the cat down...on his lap that is. He absently pets her and wonders what Malfoy is up to right now. He’d been forced home, which sucked for him because break would’ve been the perfect time to corner the blonde and force him to fess up. Not actually hating Malfoy was weirder than...well everything. 

Hating Malfoy had been a part of him since first year, but how could he hate him when he knew more now? He had seen his face in the infirmary...that wasn’t something someone could fake. LuLu liking him makes more sense than he can share with his friends right now. He can’t, not until he has all the facts, which he won’t have until Malfoy decides to share with him, and who knows when that would be. 

He’s drawn out of his thoughts when LuLu hopes down from his lap and prances over to Crookshanks. The trio at the table watch the two cats greet each other and link tails, purring and nuzzling against each other. 

Harry can’t hold his laughter at the face Hermione makes. 

She, of course, gets irrationally irritated at it and storms out of the library, Ron on her heels. 

“I guess it’s just the three of us, then.” 

Crookshanks snorts at him, but LuLu returns to his side, gazing up at him with the bluest eyes and sweetest pur. Harry all but melts on the spot. 

That’s how he finds himself with Malfoy’s Kneazle glued to his side for the next few days. He keeps looking for answers to Hagrid’s problem, hanging out with his friends who eventually stop caring _who_ LuLu belongs to because she’s so bloody cute. On the forth morning of break, he actually wakes up to her and Hedgwing cuddling by the window and decides to visit Hagrid again after dinner and learn a little more about his sudden new creature friend. 

Hagrid gives him loads of facts, so interested in the topic that he almost forgets Buckbeak’s issue. White Kneazles are apparently prestigious, and have a deeper connection once they’ve bonded. Harry had politely asked for Hagrid _not_ to tell him what that meant. He already knew he was something different to Malfoy than the boy let on, but he wasn’t ready to figure that out quite yet.

Not with a murder out to get him, maybe next year though. 

Harry had, to his dismay, picked up on some of LuLu’s mannerisms. She loves to be by fires, does _not_ like the cold. She demands chicken when she sees it, and whines when someone tries to take off her sweater. It smells like a mix of cat and citrus spice, Harry tries not to dwell on it. 

Given how _very_ clear she made it that she hates going outside, he’s rather surprised to see her racing out of the front doors as he comes back to the castle from his late visit with Hagrid. It’s well past one in the morning, another factor that catches him off guard because she’s usually deep asleep by now. Where on Earth could she be going? 

Harry knows a killer is after him, he knows Hermione is going to kick his ass for this later, but he still follows her down the hill and bloody hell is he glad he did.

He really wouldn’t have recognized him if it weren’t for LuLu meowing frantically. 

Draco Malfoy walks barefoot towards the castle, wearing a thin shirt and shorts. He’s limping and when Harry starts running to him, he can see blood and bruises everywhere. The boy’s wand hangs in his hand, but he doesn’t stop moving at the same steady pace, trudging forward through the snow. 

“Malfoy! What happened to you?”

Harry finally reaches him and grabs him by his shoulder, dear Merlin he can feel the other’s cold body through his gloves. He quickly shucks off his coat and throws it on the thin shoulders, lifting Malfoy’s face towards him, inspecting the right black eye. 

The cuts and scrapes on the shivering boy isn’t what gets him. It’s the dead look in his eyes, like he can’t even see Harry, like he’s looking into the darkest pit of despair and can’t see a way out. And he’s still standing barefoot in the snow, LuLu frantically meowing at him. 

“Okay.” Harry whispers. He has to do something and do it now. Malfoy is hurt, he clearly needs medical attention, and someone is going to have to help because Madam Pomfrey went home to visit her family.. He turns to LuLu. “Go get Dumbledore and meet me in the infirmary.” 

LuLu takes off with one last look at Malfoy. 

Harry watches her go, tearing off his beanie and tucking Malfoy’s head into it.

“Okay, Malfoy. You can’t feel your feet, but you can still walk, right?”

Malfoy doesn’t respond. He just stands there and looks into nothingness, so Harry grabs his arm and hauls him inside, pulling the beanie low so no one can tell who it is. Something tells him the boy wouldn’t like for the whole school to know he did, in fact, have a heart. His head races with explanations, but he knows who did this. Harry has never been an idiot, and while he may not know _what_ happened, he sure as hell can take an educated fucking guess. 

Dumbledore beats him to the infirmary and curses a storm he didn’t think the old man was capable of when he sees them. 

“Quickly, get him over here, LuLu has already gone to fetch Professor Snape, I need you to get me water.”

“Water?”

“I cannot heal the wound on his arm with regular magic, I will need water and bandages. Lots of them.” 

Harry watches Dumbledore force Malfoy to sit on the bed, still barely alive. He thankfully gets the boy cleaned and warm enough that his fingers aren’t blue before Snape comes in. The man freaks out at the bruises alone. 

“What...the... _fuck happened_?!”

“Severus! We are in the presence of children!” 

Snape disregards him completely, striding over to Malfoy and lifting his chin, going over several assessments. Harry brings more bandages and warm water; Dumbledore instructs him to clean the cut on Malfoy’s arm. It’s in the same spot as his wound from Buckbeak...he washes it gently, listening closely to the conversation above him.

“I’ve seen this before, it’s the look of a prisoner from Azkaban. His father must have put him in the Dementor room again….”

“ _Dementor room_ ?! Did you know about this, Albus? You saw how he was when he came back after summer, how _dare_ you let him return to that man!”

“He asked that I let him,” Dumbledore snaps back, wand never ceasing, “He was worried about his position, his father cannot know-”

“Damn his father!” Snape cries, “Look at what that bastard has done to him! He’s barely alive, it will take him weeks to recover-”

“But he will recover, won’t he?”

Two heads turn to him, sitting beside Malfoy closer than he would like to provide warmth. Spells could only do much when you’d been in the cold for so long. Malfoy’s arm doesn’t tremble in his grasp, and even though he had originally flinched when Harry had pressed the damp cloth on the wound, Malfoy seemed much more relaxed. 

“What are _you_ doing here?” Snape sneers. Dumbledore opens his mouth to respond, but Harry beats him to it.

“I found him. LuLu led me to him, she’s been under my feet all week, so when she started running I followed.”

“You need to leave-”

“No.” Harry doesn’t know what possesses him to do it, but he leans a bit closer to the boy, “Malfoy was there for me when I was in here. He’s saved my life before, I can’t just leave him now. You know I’d just sneak back down here when the two of you fall asleep anyways.” 

Snape looks ready to murder him, but Dumbledore just smiles. “He’s right, Severus. Plus, he’s being helpful.”

No one in their right mind argues with Dumbledore, not even Snape. Or Harry, for that matter, because a few hours later he finds himself sitting next to Malfoy’s bed, keeping watch and trying to talk the boy to sleep before the Headmaster comes back. 

Storm-grey dead eyes stay fixed on the ceiling and because Harry is fresh out of ideas, he places LuLu on the bed and grabs his wand, hating how Malfoy flinches at the sight of it. He doesn’t do much, just mumbles a quick ‘Incendio’ and ‘Draconifors’. To his relief, Malfoy’s eyes lock onto the flying fire taking the shape of a tiny dragon.

The creature flies above him, one Harry’s become extremely familiar with on sleepless nights. He watches Malfoy tighten his arm around LuLu and slowly shut his eyes, and for a moment he almost forgets about Black. And then his stomach grumbles….fuck, he’d forgotten dinner. 

\----------

“You’re lucky Lupin was there to intercept you, you know it’s not safe to wonder about the school at night.”

That’s weird. Draco doesn’t remember Dumbledore being in his house.

“I know sir, but Black can’t get in and-”

Harry is here? What the fuck? Who let him in?

“It does not change the fact that Black is after you….”

Who is Black? Is he the one that brought Harry in? Once he finds out what he looks like that guy will dead as-

“But you said yourself that Hogwarts can’t be breached….please stop hiding things from me, Headmaster. You see where that’s gotten Malfoy…” 

Malfoy? Is his father here? Oh fuck. Are Potter and his father in the same house? Surely that’s why Dumbledore is here. That’s got to be the reason.

“I’ll be back. Send LuLu when he wakes.”

Not good. Dumbledore can’t just leave! He can’t protect Potter right now! Or can he? Either way, he can’t sleep anymore, he has to open his eyes, and at least try to get Potter out of here safely...he can handle the torture. Harry can’t. 

Draco peeks open one eye and is stunned to see that instead of the dark dungeon walls he’s grown so used to, light is streaming in. If he hasn’t gone crazy, there’s a bed beneath him and he’s _warm_. Like he can actually feel his fingers and toes again...amazing! A small source of heat radiates from his side...LuLu, no doubt. He’d spent one too many days in here at the beginning of the semester to forget what the infirmary looks like, if only he could piece together the bits that brought him back to these wretched sheets. 

“Malfoy?”

Draco turns his head to the familiar voice and Harry Potter is there. In the chair next to his bed, looking oddly worried and relieved at the same time. Really, how many emotions could the boy have at one time? No wonder he was always such a mess.

“Please tell me you’re going to talk this time. The last few days have been really creepy.”

“I’m not the one watching other people sleep,” Draco croaks out and Merlin, he knows it’s been awhile since he’s done anything but scream but there’s no reason for _talking_ to _hurt._ Wait a minute… “Days?!” He croaks again, “What do you mean days?!”

Potter hands him some water that he drowns, trying to ignore the way his stomach grumbles. 

“Well, you’ve been in and out for about four days now-”

Draco lurches up and instantly the room starts to fade. Two hands grip his shoulders and oh right- Potter is speaking to him. “-should probably take it slowly. Actually, I probably need to send LuLu-”

“No!” Thank everything he doesn’t sound like a dying toad now, “Dumbledore will have questions and I frankly don’t have answers at the moment.” Draco groans, “He’ll probably rummage through my memories, dammit...Wait a minute!” he turns a sharp gaze on the scruffy boy in front of him, “Why the hell did he leave _you_ to look after me?!”

Potter gives him a very nervous grin that makes him very anxious, “Like I said...you’ve missed a lot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also thank you all so much for the comments and support I-


	8. Memories and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t worry,” Draco mumbles to them, watching himself get snarled at, “It only gets worse from here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READ BEFORE YOU READ! This chapter talks about what happened to Draco during his time at home, ie TW FOR TORTURE AND ABUSE! I put a line of ########## before and after the graphic bits, so if it bothers you PLEASE SKIP IT! THE DETAILS OF DRACO'S TORTURE THAT MAY DAMAGE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH ARE NOT THAT IMPORTANT! I rewrote that scene specifically so that it could be ignored without missing anything vital to the plot! I repeat DO NOT READ IT IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THAT TYPE OF STUFF!

“So we’re just telling everyone that I’m a spy, are we?”

Dumbledore rolls his eyes, “We’ve only informed Harry-”

“And Granger, and Weasley, and Lupin. What’s next? Are we going to put an ad out in the _Daily Prophet_?” Draco sneers. Imagine that headline; Breaking News; Malfoy vs. Malfoy, the son of a former Death Eater says ‘no’!

Potter, thankfully, doesn’t say a word. 

Insane, how much a person could miss in four days. Dumbledore still hadn’t gone through his memories, but he knew that would be happening before he left the office, Merlin knows Potter would probably see them too. The stupid git had been with him so much apparently his friends had gone looking, and well, he needed to explain _why_ he was baby-sitting the Feret Who Bullied. Long story short, Potter really needs someone to teach him how to lie.

Not that Dumbledore wouldn’t have told them the truth. Harry had given them a basic idea, and the old coot had told them _everything._ From the first year to this one. Naturally the two dorks hadn’t believed him, so he brought out the Pensive and it was all downhill from there. 

At least Snape was as pissed as he is. 

“You’re overreacting.”

Draco glares at him, “I am? Because I thought the purpose of a spy was that _no one knew about them_! I understand telling Potter, but I don’t understand why we had to go and inform so many people! What if it gets out?! What if my father knows now?”

Fawkes and LuLu follow him as he paces in front of Dumbledore’s desk, Potter follows him with his eyes. He hates every second of it.

“To be frank,” Dumbledore replies in a steely voice, “I told Miss Granger because she is more capable than the both of you combined. Mr. Weasley was clued in because it is unfair to have only two-thirds of a team know, and you are aware how the three of them are very much a team. If they know, they are more likely to be honest with you, did you not come to me last year and complain that it would be easier to keep them out of trouble if you knew the trouble they would get into beforehand?”

Draco flushes, Potter protests. “We do not get into that much trouble-”

“ _Potter_ ,” he whines, “This year alone you’ve had not one, but three near-death experiences. First, the train ride. Second, flying on Buckbeak. You literally almost got kissed and fell to your death less than a bloody month ago!” 

“Well you’re one to talk! You walked _barefoot through the snow_ probably to get away from your _abusive father_ and then acted like you weren’t even _alive! For four days straight!_ Merlin knows what that man has-”

“ _You know nothing about my father!_ ” 

The room hushes at his outburst. Dumbledore stills behind his desk, Potter freezes in his seat. Not even the fire moves until LuLu brushes against his leg, like she’s offering some weird support. Draco takes a deep breath, quickly coming to his senses. Before he can apologize, Dumbledore stands and slowly walks to the corner of the room, near the stupid Pensive.

“Shall we learn together, then? You still haven’t shown me how you got back to the castle…”

Draco eyes Potter, still frozen in his seat. He knows Dumbledore won’t make him show the boy, hell, it would probably be better for Potter _not_ to see what happened while he was gone. But, he knew everything else, why not include him on all of Draco’s dark little secrets. Maybe then he would shut the fuck up about what he _thought_ he knew. 

“Understand this, Potter. My father was once everything to me. He was kind and gentle and taught me everything I know. The man you’re about to see is a stranger.”

Potter’s eyes widen, “You’re going to let me-”

“Shut up.” Draco spits, “Just move before I change my mind.” 

Dumbledore doesn’t comment on his rudeness for once, merely waits for both boys to join him. Then he takes his wand and extracts the memories Draco has no recollection of and eases them into the water. The three of them join hands, take a gulp of air, and sink their heads into the unknown. 

He know it’s an stupid thought but, bloody hell, does he really sound _that_ annoying? 

“ _You hurt me!_ ” 

Ah, that sentence had definitely been a mistake. At least this time he can see his father moving quickly across the room and pinning him into the wall. Potter gasps beside him, Dumbledore frowns.

“Don’t worry,” Draco mumbles to them, watching himself get snarled at, “It only gets worse from here.”

“You stood up for Buckbeak,” Potter whispers back. He gives Draco a weird look, like he’s questioning if the boy really is half-decent.

“Someone had to.”

Lucius moves in front of them, they follow him and Memory Draco down the hallways of Malfoy Manor and to the dungeons, where Draco shivers. Dumbledore tightens his grip on his hand, it’s grounding, he would have to thank the man for not making him do this alone later.

Above ground, the manor can still pass as a family-friendly home. Sure, it’s big and the walls are spotless and the floor echoes footsteps, but there are soft couches, even gentler lights. The dining room may have seemed dark and cold from his perspective, but the table was warm oak, and the rug beneath it white, fuzzy, and pure. He’s eaten dinner so many times with his parents there, his father at the head, and he and his mother on either side. It had been home once.

But the dungeons were another story.

Dark and dreary, walls of stone lit by green fire that somehow managed to stay alive despite the dampness of the place. Lucius’s feet still echo, but it sounds more like a threat than someone walking. Iron doors with little windows at the top are passed until they reach the very last one. 

“Listen,” Draco whispers, watching as his father raises his wand to unlock it, “Behind that door is ten Dementors.”

“Do not worry,” Dumbledore doesn’t ease his grip, “They cannot see us in a memory.” 

Beside him, Potter relaxes every so slightly, but then the door is opening and Memory Draco is tossed inside. They hurry in, despite at least two of them wanting to run away. Lucius places his wand on the door window, just out of Memory Draco’s reach. For a moment he thinks Potter is going to vomit.

#######################

One by one the Dementors approach him, sucking while he screams. The hands in his tighten like it’s a reflex, but he can’t tear his eyes away from his own limp body being passed around between bone hands. His screaming dies down after at least ten minutes, and that’s when the door is thrown open.

“ _Enough_.” Lucius says, holding his wand to the masses. He moves in to grab his son, not knowing about the three in the present that follow him out of the room. 

Lucius takes him to the torture chamber next to the Dementor Room, strapping him in wall chains that suspend him against stone; he exits the room and Draco wonders if he was left there over night before the man is back with a bucket he just _knows_ is cold water. 

Sure enough, whatever it is gets thrown on his face and brings him back to the Memory world of Consciousness. 

“ _You will learn strength. Even if I have to beat it into you._ ” 

Draco doesn’t know what’s coming next, but when a whip appears in his father’s hands, he’s sure to cover Potter’s eyes with his arm. Unfortunately he can’t cover his ear drums. Lucius takes out whatever anger he has like Memory Draco is a punching bag, hitting him over and over until the whites of his eyes are showing. Then, he sighs, puts the whip down,and leaves Memory Draco tied to the wall until what he assumes is morning. 

That’s when the knife comes into play. 

Memory Draco is asleep on the wall again, and yes he can see Potter trying not to cry at the sight. Lucius strides in with only his knife, whispering something to make the chains release his body. Memory Draco sits up, opening his mouth as if to say ‘what?’ but it sort of gets cut off by his father’s boot. 

“ _Get up!_ ”

Memory Draco does not get up, as a matter of fact, Real Draco is almost positive Memory Draco is knocked the fuck out, but that doesn’t stop Lucius from beating him awake only to punch him back to sleep. Draco doesn’t bother hiding it from Potter this time, he thinks about it when his father grabs Memory Draco’s lifeless arm and puts a dark blade against his still bleeding wound, but the worst was surely over. 

The three watch hours of this, Draco being beaten, Draco tied to the wall, Draco with the Dementors, Draco getting cut, Draco starved, whipped, splashed awake by water, Crucioed, frozen, burned, kicked, slapped, taunted and cussed at. And then, just when he’s about to beg Dumbledore to stop, Lucius leaves Memory Draco passed out on the floor, only for one steel grey eye to peek open as soon as the door shuts. 

###############

Oh yeah, that had been the day Lucius told him how lovely his wand was on the fireplace, and how he was thinking about breaking it. A big mistake, telling a wizard where you were keeping their wand. He watches himself sit up and wait for a few hours before crawling to the door. Memory Draco stands and immediately falls, but grabs the wall at the last second to steady himself. He mumbles what Real Draco is sure to be the unlocking spell, and then the three are finally leaving the bloody dungeons. 

Memory Draco looks bad, he’ll admit. The boy can barely walk, but he still stumbles up the steps, leaving a trail of blood behind him. They make it to the dungeon door, and out into the Manor. A clock tells them it’s exactly one in the morning, his father goes to bed every night at eleven. Draco sees himself grab his wand, a handful of floo powder, and then hears his dead voice whisper ‘Honeydukes’.

Memory Draco disappears at the same time Dumbledore pulls him back and to his honest surprise, the second they’re back in the old man’s office, he’s dragged into ancient arms.

Dumbledore is hugging him, and oddly enough, shaking while he does. Even weirder is that Harry Potter, The Boy Who’s Parents Got Brutally Murdered In Front of Him, is crying like he’d just seen the worst thing in his life. 

“I’m sorry.” Dumbledore says, pulling away from him but keeping one hand on his shoulder. LuLu paces between Potter and Draco, rubbing them both and looking at them with worried eyes. 

Draco shrugs. “It’s in the past.”

“How can you say that?” Potter whispers, “With what he did to you...how could you go back?”

“Because I have to. If I don’t go back, he’ll know something is wrong. I can’t have him knowing the type of information I give Dumbledore, do you understand why I didn’t want to tell you anything now? What you just saw is kind compared to what he would do if he knew.” 

Potter gives him the saddest look he’s ever seen in his life, big emerald eyes staring right through him and into whatever soul he has left. For a moment he’s honestly scared the boy is going to hug him too.

“Then he won’t know.” Harry says instead, “He’ll never find out. You have my word.”

Somehow, given what they just went through together, Draco trusted that.

\----------

Classes start back up and if Draco had thought his friends were worried before, he had something else coming.

“ _What the hell happened to your face?!_ ”

At least Pansy and Blaise had drug him to a secluded corner before screaming at him. Pansy gently trailed the few visible bruises on his face while her companion looked on with a worry he's only seen from his mother. 

“Just an accident at home is all,” He lied, taking their hands and trying to smile.

“An accident?” Blaise whispers, pulling him closer, “Darling, it looks like you were beaten…” 

Draco looks warmly up at him. His friend had grown a bit over winter break, or maybe it was just his new shoes. “I’m fine, Blaise-Bear. Really.”

“No you’re not.” Pansy rubs his shoulder.

The two in front of him share some looks, communicating something he wished he could be a part of.

Pansy speaks first, “Draco…”

“Is your father beating you?” 

Then again, maybe he’d like to vanish from this conversation entirely.

“What?” He scoffs, after a much too telling pause he prays they don’t pick up on, “Where would you get an idea like that?”

“Well,” Pansy explains, “It started last year...Flint told us how you looked scared of your father when he came to see your first match.”

“He asked us if Mr. Malfoy was kind to you, and we thought he was until Christmas.”

_Oh shit._

“You’ve never _not_ been excited about being home, even when we were kids and you would come to visit, you always just wanted to be at your manor.”

Blaise takes a deep breath, “We started remembering how weird you were being about things. Like how when you did get a letter from him, you always looked so frightened.”

_Fuck._

“And when he visited you would disappear for hours and come back with a mask we hadn’t seen before.”

“We found anxiety and pain-relieving potions under your bed last year, and now there’s blood replenishing ones there too.”

 _Shit_! He thought he had hidden those pretty well!

“You kept putting yourself in danger, healthy people don’t do that. You came back from talking to him with a bruise on the side of your head…”

“And then this year…he wouldn’t let you read your own mail, would he?”

Draco’s all but panicking now, his friends aren’t done though. They can see him shaking, surely, but their hands are soft on his arms, and for that he’s thankful.

“You didn’t pass out on the train...everyone passes out their first Dementor attack..”

“The wound on your arm-”

“You didn’t get a letter until Christmas-”

“And you come back looking like you’ve been stomped on?”

Pansy takes a deep breath, “We’re not stupid, love, we didn’t want to invade your privacy...but _darling_ …”

“Look at you,” Blaise whispers, “You’re shaking like you’ve just woken up from a nightmare...we can’t sit by and watch anymore. We’re your friends and we won’t let you lie to us.”

Draco chokes out a laugh, thanking whoever’s listening that they’d skipped so no one would see him on the verge of breaking down in the middle of a hallway. “What do you want?” He asks, although it sounds much more like a sob, “Are you going to make me form some Unbreakable Vow so I’ll be honest with you?”

They share another look, and this time Draco doesn’t have to wonder what it means.

“You are, aren’t you?! You’re going to make me-”

“Draco.” 

Oh fuck, Blaise pulled out his no-bullshit voice. That was never good for his arguments, or his jokes. Call him a coward, but without those he didn’t really have much else to fight with at the moment.

“Hear us out, love, this is actually more for your benefit.”

Honestly, how does Blaise expect him to behave after a statement like that. “We’re Slytherins. We don’t do things for other people’s benefits.” 

“If you would _shut up_ for a moment and let us explain,” Blaise glares, “Then maybe it would make a little more sense. Can you manage that?” 

Draco nods. His friends may glare, but they’re warm and grounding and he can’t afford to lose that right now. 

Pansy looks a little nervous, glancing between the two of them, but she seems to make up her mind, leaning closer as if there was someone around to hear them.

“I was thinking less of an Unbreakable Vow, and more of a magically-binding contract. I know you, you’d never be able to follow things to the letter, and I don’t want you to die for that, so Blaise and I did a little research and came up with a contract.”

That...didn’t sound as bad as dying because of a small slip up. Hell, he actually liked the idea of having something in writing. 

“It says,” Blaise continues, “That you cannot lie to us. Ever. If you do you’ll spend the day speaking in Latin until you tell us the truth, we’ll face the same thing..” 

He’d been mastering Veritaserum for months now, he could deal with that. Lying and not telling the whole truth were two completely different things he was getting rather good at. 

“You also will alert us when you’re in danger. Literally, when you’re hurt and need help we’ll feel our wrists burning until we see you. You’ll feel the burn too, don’t worry.” 

That hurt them more than anything. What’s the point of such a silly rule? Surely Draco would be burning their wrists every time he went home for the summer...

“And because we know you, we also wrote that whatever you tell us, we cannot tell anyone else unless they already know. If we even try to communicate it, our mouths will be locked shut and anything we try to write will just turn out in a lewd drawing until you personally relieve us. I kinda can’t wait to see your gossiping ass draw a naked man during Snape’s class.” 

“The only time that can be broken,” Pansy continues seriously, “ is if you’re about to die and we have to do something like go get Dumbledore for help.” 

Draco looks between the two of them, both hopeful and nervous at the same time. On the one hand, if he did tell them everything there would be hell to pay. Sure, he trusted them with his life and all, but he knows how Slytherins are. More than that, he knows purebloods. They would do anything for their own gain, including cross him. But….he also knows that family means everything to them, and he was considered family. Family broke rules for each other, family always comes first. 

“Why?” He asks carefully, “Why those rules? What’s in it for you?”

Blaise grins, “I told you he would say that!”

“Naturally,” Pansy rolls her eyes, “Look, Draco. Last year I think I slept maybe once a week because I was so worried about you, and this year is no different. If you agree, Blaise and I can stop losing our bloody minds over you because we’d know you were safe. If you can’t lie to us, we can’t lie to you. Same with betrayal. It’s a two way street with how our friendship started.”

“You’re the one who isn’t being open, hiding things, and clearly in need of help even though you refuse to admit it. We are, and have always been, loyal to you. We’re just tired of you not returning the favor.”

Damnitt! They used the loyalty card...his weakness… They had always been there for him. Had he really become so closed off? When did he stop trusting his friends? LuLu loved them, she treated Blaise like her personal pillow and Pansy like her throne. If LuLu trusted them, shouldn’t he? He didn’t have many people he could trust...and that number was sure to go down in the future...

“What if,” Draco looks down at his feet, “What if I’m not who you think I am?”

“You’re still our Draco,” Blaise replies, no hesitation.

“And we are still family, we will always be loyal to you, no matter who you are. Whether you think so or not, we know you are going to be great. And you know how much Slytherins love greatness.” 

Fuck. He would have to let Dumbledore know about this. And Snape. Hell, he’d probably have to tell Potter too before he signed it. But, even if they all said no, he already knew his name would be on the stupid thing eventually. 

“This is going to seem silly,” Draco starts, “But I need that in the contract. Bring it to the Astronomy tower after dinner tomorrow, I’ll meet you there after my extra assignment with Lupin. We’ll go over every word, work out any discrepancy, and if it meets everyone’s standards….”

“We’ll sign it.” 

“In blood.” 

Three sets of eyes meet right as the bell to change classes rings, thank everything he’d only missed Potions. 

\----------

Draco’s suspicions about Dumbledore’s sanity, or lack thereof, were confirmed the second he told the boy that he thought a group of thirteen year olds making a blood-and-magic binding contract was a good idea. 

“I do think I agree with your friends. Think of it this way, allies are hard to come by, and you have two throwing themselves at your feet. This way you will be safer, and have the freedom to confide in whoever you chose, plus the contract sounds painless, if there was danger in it I would simply not allow it, but this seems more like your friends are rather protective of you. I daresay they have good reasons to be.” 

And although Snape had always seemed at least somewhat the sanest of them all, he was almost ecstatic at the idea. Although, Draco has a very big feeling that was probably because of how livid he had been when he found out about the abuse...his ears rang until dinner form the lecture. 

“I _told_ you to come to me about these things! A cut is one thing, but this? I cannot express the longing I feel to hex your father, the only reason I haven’t is because of the danger it would pose! I really ought to hex _you!_ Should he raise another _finger_ to you, _I will know about it_. Is that clear? Furthermore you should know that signing these types of contracts are extremely serious and cannot be broken once your blood is on the page. You’ll each need a copy of it and not, once it is signed you cannot change the contents but it will aid in your safety and I am willing to risk others for that at this point-”

Draco really couldn’t believe they agreed, didn’t anyone see how ridiculous it was? Surely Potter would. He just had to find a way to get Harry alone so they could talk and he could rant and rave about how stupid it was. Draco honestly expected to have to hunt the boy down, not walk in Lupin’s classroom for his Dementor Class and see the boy casually eating chocolate with his professor.

“Ah!” Lupin smiles at him, “I thought you’d never show up! Don’t worry, Dumbledore’s told me everything-”

“-Of course he did-”

“-And you and Harry will be studying at the same time. I rather hope you can help each other, although Draco you might have to face the boggart.”

Wonderful. The cherry on top of his perfect day. Maybe he could accidentally hex Potter and get away with it...Harry smiles at him and maybe he could just pull the boy aside and talk to him before they left. Less clean up that way.

It’s honestly amusing to watch Potter fail so many times, landing at least three times on his ass before throwing up frustrated hands. Draco can’t hold back his laughter, and he does regret informing Harry that he can produce a Patronus, thank you very much.

“What do you think about then?”

Draco raises an eyebrow, “Excuse me? Is this really the time to get an inside look into my mind?”

“No, you giant prat, what do you think about when you make your Patronus?”

Well isn’t this going to make for an interesting conversation. Lupin looks like he would also like to know, which makes Draco squirm and really, he’s shown Harry himself being beaten to a pulp, why should he care about this?

“I think about things that matter to me.” He says, really hoping that Scarface won’t pry.

Naturally he does, “What do you mean?”

“Like…” Fuck, how did he word this? “Like my mother. Her and I laughing and dancing on Christmas mornings. Or my friends, Pansy and Blaise, and the small moments we share that just _mean_ something to me…”

Harry doesn’t say anything, and still looks very confused so he continues. 

“Look. What works for me might not work for you, but happiness comes in all shapes and forms. The things I told you help, but there’s also flying your first broom; realizing someone important to you didn’t die and was just being a big idiot; having someone tell you you’re the son they’ve never had. Anything that makes you feel a little less lost, something that gives you a sense of who you are. Those are powerful emotions, Potter. Even if the memories aren’t completely happy.” 

“Well said, Draco,” Lupin beams at him. Harry looks like he finally gets it, standing to face the boggart once more. 

“Can I try again, professor? I think I have something...Draco kinda helped.”

He would snap at Harry that it’s _Malfoy_ to him, but the boggart’s briefcase is opening and Harry shouts the spell so powerfully he can honestly call Draco whatever the hell he wants to. A glowing doe forces the thing back, and he shouldn’t be, but he’s just as proud as Lupin.

Potter, finally learning to protect himself instead of throwing himself into danger. This would do wonders for Draco’s stress levels. 

“I did it!” The boy yells, almost bouncing with happiness. Draco himself is fighting a large smile. Lupin just grins, “You did! I’m very proud of you.”

“Can I try again?” 

Draco shakes his head, “Potter, you just went against it at least five times. Take a rest or you’ll burn yourself out.” 

Harry snorts at him. “Please, you’re just jealous that I’m not afraid of my boggart.”

“I think you missed the definition of a boggart that day in class. It is quite literally your biggest fear.”

“And I faced it at least five times, didn’t I?”

Draco starts up a chant in his mind; _Don’t lose your cool_ over and over and over but then Lupin, the traitor, has an idea.

“You do need to practice, Draco. How about, we have Harry stand in front of the boggart so it takes the shape of a Dementor, and you can cast your Patronus on it. Sound good?”

“No!” 

Lupin’s reaching for the latch.

“Sir! I don’t want to be anywhere near that thing!” 

Harry gets into position.

“Wait-”

The latch breaks open, and the Dementor is back. Only it doesn’t face Potter, it turns to him and starts to take a _very_ different shape. Black cloak melts to the floor, hood turning into locks of black hair that still as the three of them watch a Dementor morph into Harry, neck snapped, bloodied and very clearly dead. 

Draco can’t move. He can see Alive and Real Harry gasping in his peripherals, but Dead and Crawling Towards Him Boggart Harry has captured his full attention. He can’t _imagine_ why. 

Dead Harry reaches him, grabs the leg of his robes and whispers, “ _Why didn’t you save me?_ ” before Lupin steps in and they’re suddenly looking at a full moon.

“Riddikulus!” 

The awful thing flies back into its box, Lupin chasing after it and sitting on top of the lid so he can properly lock it.

“Well,” the man huffs, “I think that has been _extremely_ educational, what do you say to a cup of tea?”

Draco and Harry don’t move.

“Yes, then. That is most definitely a yes.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally wasn't going to reveal Draco to Harry until the end of this story, but we all know how the plot bunny be, plus this way I can do the scene that I've been thinking about for a Hot Minute now in the next part of the series


	9. Signing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The professor lets him in and stares, and really, Draco gets it. His hair is a mess, eyes wide and probably a little crazed, robes all in disarray, and LuLu beside him eyeing him like he might just break down crying right here and now.

Lupin leaves them at his desk while he goes upstairs to look for tea. He really could have just called a house elf, but Draco gets the feeling the man just wanted to give the two some time to talk.

“So your biggest fear….”

“Shut up. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Harry sighs, “We have to. You promised me after that Quidditch game that we would. You said any question I have-”

“But you haven’t asked a question, have you?”

“I’m trying to now!”

Draco glares at him, but ScarFace has a point. They couldn’t avoid each other now, no matter how badly he wanted to. Plus, a Malfoy never goes back on a promise. At least not directly. 

“Not here.”

“Where, then?! You keep saying that type of shit but the time is never right, is it?” 

Draco glares at him, but they both go quiet when Lupin comes back and places orange tea in front of them. 

“I hope you both like citrus teas, it’s all I have unfortunately.”

Not the worst thing, the tea, but it’s no mint. Certainly no chamomile. Even so, the three drink and make small talk until Lupin tells them both that it’s getting late and that they could probably use a good night’s sleep. Draco can’t agree more, but damn him if Potter doesn't follow him so he can’t go to the Astronomy tower and meet his friends immediately, they make it halfway to the dungeons before he snaps.

“Will you knock it off?” he quips turning on his heel and glaring, “There is a _killer_ after you, go to bed.”

Harry widens his eyes, faking a gasp just for good measure, “How could I _ever_ sleep again after you so kindly point that out?”

“What do you want, Potter?” Draco sighs. He’s tired, he doesn’t want to think about anything after what he just experienced, not to mention that he definitely does not have the emotional energy for this. Potter is lucky as hell that everyone else is asleep, he can only imagine the gossip if Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were seen casually speaking in the middle of the fucking hallway. Would Scarface ever learn to use his brain? Draco was starting to run out of hope.

“I want to talk.” 

“We are talking.”

Harry looks like he could throttle the blonde, and really it would save Draco the trouble of dying from something more painful, so he doesn’t necessarily mind if it comes to that. Nothing like a bit of light choking to end someone’s night.

“You know what I mean. I want to know why you won’t tell me things. I know the truth now, Draco. Sure, it’s probably not a good idea for us to be seen together in public, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.” 

Check and mate. The exact argument that’s been going through Draco’s own head for at least almost a year now. Constant back and forth between it not being safe, because Potter didn’t know, and his father would kill him if he was friends with the boy. But, being honest with himself, Potter _knows_ now. And isn’t his father going to end up killing one day anyways? He hides things from everyone, even Pansy and Blaise and he’s planning on signing his blood so he can’t do that anymore. Should he turn a new leaf completely? Stop hiding things from people he knows are good, lean on them, let them support him? 

The only issue is, Draco doesn’t want to. Leaning on people is being weak, is it not? That’s why he’s kept his secrets, hides his vulnerable parts from everyone. He doesn’t break down and cry in front of others, that’s saved for when he’s safe behind the curtains of his bed, curled around LuLu. He doesn’t talk about things, he waits until he breaks down and goes to Snape because he has no one else to tell. He lies, and he cheats, and he fakes his way through life until he’s at the top. 

And that is not someone who Harry Potter wants in his life, Draco’s sure.

Regardless, Scar Face is still staring at him.

“What are you thinking?” 

Oh dear Merlin, lying really is always the right answer. Draco takes a deep breath.

“I’m thinking,” he begins, “that you should be somewhere safer than the middle of the hallway, and that I have to meet with some friends, so we should probably cut this meeting short, shouldn’t we? I’m also thinking,” he takes a step into Potter’s face, “that you should keep that whole ‘not being seen in public’ thing at the front of your mind. I am your protector, that does not mean we’ll be skipping down the halls singing children’s songs in the near future. Start using your fucking brain, _Harry_.”

Draco spits out the name, fully intending for it to sound like an insult, but naturally the idiot smiles at him. “Maybe you should use yours, _Draco_.” 

He’s around three seconds away from punching Potter in his smart mouth but the brat turns around and walks away, leaving him fuming and glaring at empty walls. 

“What an ass…"

\----------

Pansy and Blaise are waiting for him in the Astrology tower when he finally gets there, contract and pens in hand. 

“What took you so long?”

Draco shrugs, “You’ll find out soon enough.”

He can’t see it, but he can _feel_ them rolling their eyes. 

Taking a seat by the ledge so he can see the stars and the paper in front of him, Draco gins at his friends. The contract is all fairly clear and thought out, and once making sure it’s full of things he’s comfortable with, and has enough wiggle room, he takes a pen. 

To put it simply, maybe Dumbledore was right. The document is really just pages upon pages that force him to do things he knows are healthy. Things that Snape had told him to do, that Dumbledore encouraged. Things like opening up to his friends, on his own terms, so that he doesn’t go crazy. Letting them know when he’s hurt, so that he _does_ end up living through all this shit. Giving up a few of his secrets, so he would maybe be able to save his friends when it mattered. And most importantly, their complete and undying loyalty and a very specific line that forces them into secrecy about any and everything he _does_ decide to share. For when this whole agreement blows up in his face. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Draco asks, like they were the ones with secrets too big for their own feet.

“Yes,” Pansy nodded. “You need this, and frankly I’m looking forward to actually sleeping today.” 

Blaise chuckles, “I’m personally looking forward to finally knowing where he sneaks off to every night. I feel like a worried father.”

Draco rolls his eyes, but they still grab their pens. Pansy signs first, wincing when her pen hits the page, but never stopping the flow of deep red that glistens in the moonlight. Blaise follows her up, muttering about how much he bloody hates blood pens and how there is absolutely no reason for writing to hurt this much. 

He watches them, sees deep crimson form lines and curves, and for a moment he thinks about how much funnier it would be for him _not_ to sign. Just leave them here, contracted to no one but themselves. Somehow, he doesn’t think he would make it very far if he did do that. Which is in all honesty the main reason he picks up his own pen. Magic pricks his wrist, he expects it to hurt, to whine and complain like the other two, but it feels comforting. Grounding, like he might have to check it out later to see if pain could be the thing to keep him mind from flying all the time. 

In a blink his name is signed, and they all smear blood on their palms and shake hands. The contract glows, lighting up the room for a moment. Bright light blinding so they almost miss the pages fading out of existence. 

“Guess that’s it then.” 

Pansy hits him on the arm, “No, we need to test it! Blaise, try to tell a lie.”

“I did not cheat on my last Transfiguration nito.” His eyes widen, “O cara...placet hoc fix…”

Draco turns to lock eyes with Pansy before they both burst out laughing.

“Clmex! Adiuva me! Noli ridens, hoc est non ridiculam!” 

“Okay! Okay!” Draco giggles to the still huffing Blaise. He grabs his wand and points it right at the boy’s heart, “ _Finite_.” 

Blaise glares at them, “I swear if I’m still-oh thank Merlin! I’m rubbish at Latin, I could barely understand what I was saying!” 

Pansy grins, “We did, but that’s because me and Draco actually care about our education.”

“I care!”

“Careful, you wouldn’t want to speak Latin until tomorrow, would you?”

The boy rolls his eyes, “Whatever. Isn’t it time for Draco to spill his guts?”

“Oh no.” Draco holds his hands out, “Not yet, we all have a test in Potions tomorrow, and I’d rather get some sleep before that.” 

“So Snape saves your ass again….”

Draco winks at them, “Someone’s got to.”

\----------

Harry’s friends were honestly adjusting well to Malfoy being on their side. To tell the truth, Hermione hadn’t given it much thought because she was so in over her head with classes no one understood how she was taking. Ron had been sure it was a dream at first, and then Scabbers went missing and between that and someone casually letting him borrow their Nimbus 2001, a broom much better than anyone had seen on the Gryffindor team, he was a little preoccupied. Harry himself hadn’t really thought about how much Draco was impacting him until the stupid broom showed up with a note in weirdly familiar handwriting; _don’t say a word, think of it as a gift for not outing me, and also a little incentive for beating Ravenclaw so Flint doesn’t lose his head again- D_

The ‘D’ had been the most amusing part, if Draco was suddenly going to start leaving him little notes, they should probably come up with another, less obvious sign off. But in order to do that, they would actually have to _talk_ and Draco almost ran from him every time he had a chance. After their Dementor lessons he would dash out the door without a second look, when he saw the boy in the halls he would turn and walk the other way, at one point Harry started to wonder if Draco was going to skip class to avoid him. Alas, class just seemed to be a good time for the blonde prick to pick on him.

At least LuLu seemed to like him. The little creature would sometimes walk him to class, show up while he was studying, like she was splitting her time between him and Draco. Strange, but the times he saw her cured up in Draco’s lap were...calming. Unlike the Quidditch match where he, by some miracle, got to the snitch before that cute Ravenclaw Seeker. Cho, was it? Harry would’ve felt bad if the party in the Gryffindor hadn’t distracted him.

“You were amazing, mate!” 

Fred and George are somehow already drunk, someone having snuck in some type of alcohol he was actively avoiding. Hermione rolls her eyes, head stuck deep into yet another pile of larger than life books. Her and Ron were still fighting over the whole Scabbers Issue. Harry really was getting rather tired of it, because he couldn’t go comfort Hermione when she ran away crying without insulting Ron, which means he has to wait for Ron to go over to Seamus and get deep in conversation about the game before he can sneak off into Hermione’s room. 

“You okay?” He asks, sitting on the bed with a person clearly hiding under the covers.

“Fine, he’s just a really big ass sometimes.”

Harry smiles, “Yea. I know, but he’s right about you taking too many classes. You need a break Herm, you’re gonna wear yourself out.”

A bush of hair and red-rimmed eyes poke out of the covers and glare at him, “I _know_ that! I just don’t have time for breaks.”

“There’s time right now. Come down to the party with me, we can eat jellybeans and hang out with Ginny and the twins, Ron’ll be talking to Seamus about the game for at least an hour, that’s more than enough time for a break.” 

He can see the gears in Hermione’s head turning, and pretty soon she’s leading him back down the stairs and to the fireplace where she can ignore Ron and still watch Fred and George’s drunk reenactment of a speech Flinch had given them the first time he caught them sneaking out. 

Around one is when McGonagall comes to tell them to go to sleep. They’re lucky they had time to hide the alcohol before she came, and that Fred and George had gone up to their dorm with some girls to play spin the bottle. With the wild parts of the party hidden, and their head of house gone, everyone more or less vanished into their beds and deep into sleep.

Some of them even fell into very, very strange dreams. 

Harry walked around a field of flowers, a bigger LuLu walking at his side, nudging against him every so often, but still leading him to a cottage by the beach. He didn’t know how, but he had been here before. As a matter of fact, he had a bloody key to the front door. It opens without much of an issue, and to his shock, Draco is waiting for him in the little house. A blinding smile later and their outside, on the back porch, cuddled together on a large white sofa that overlooks the sea. It’s strange, the happiness he feels. He shouldn’t feel it. This is very, very fucking weird and he would very much like to wake the fuck up right the fuck now. Dream Draco leans towards him, and right as the harrowing realization that the blonde is going to kiss him hits, a loud scream saves him.

He bolts up in bed, looking around to see Ron still shouting.

“Hey! Mate! ‘The hell are you doing?!”

“ _Sirius Black! He was here, Harry!_ ”

Naturally, Harry and the rest of the house, now awake and coming to find Ron shouting and crying in the common room, think he’s gone mad. And then McGonagall comes back and does what no one else thought to, merely asks Sir Cadogon if he let a man through the door. Proving the house’s complaints about how stupid the painting is, the knight replies that he did, in fact, let a man in, because he had, much to Neville’s horror, found _someone’s_ list of passwords. 

They’d never seen McGonagall so pissed.

No one bothers to sleep after that, settling in groups around the common room and waiting for more news. Hermione and Ron set aside their feud for the night, joining Harry, Ginny, Neville, Fred and George, Seamus, and Dean by the fire. 

“This isn’t good,” She begins, and the others listen. 

But Harry...well, he’s a little preoccupied hoping that Draco isn’t doing something stupid, like helping search the castle for a serial killer. Which he probably is, with Snape and LuLu by his side, so at least he’s not alone, but Merlin wasn’t he supposed to protect Harry? How was he meant to do that if he was dead? But also, Sirius _is_ out to get him, so in a way, stopping Sirius _is_ keeping him safe. And, if he stops to think about it, why the hell was he even thinking about Draco and his safety? Let him get hexed, that’s one less thing he has to worry about in Quidditch! The boy doesn’t even want to be his friend so why the hell is he so concerned about-

“You alright there, Harry?”

His friends are all looking at him, so he smiles, “I’m fine.”

“We know it’s gotta be scary,” Fred begins.

“Having a killer out to get you isn’t fun,” George ends.

Ron pats his leg, “Don’t worry, mate. We’ll keep you safe. If nothing else, that bloody beast Crookshanks can-

“ _Leave my cat out of this Ronald Weasley!_ ”

Safety precautions were taken, new curfews, Flinch constantly on patrol. The fat lady was put back in her rightful spot, scared to the point that Draco actually had to pay trolls to protect her, another thing to hide from his father, no doubt. Which was truly rather annoying because the git still wasn’t speaking to him, something that really was beginning to piss him off every damn time he saw blonde hair.

\----------

Draco was most definitely going insane. No other way to put it. He was so used to lying a little bit about everything that he suddenly seemed to take hours to answer any question Pansy and Blaise asked him, which pissed them off because they knew it was vague when they heard it. His father had sent him a letter about Buckbeak more than likely dying soon, which he was trying to research into so he could at least _try_ to fix that problem. Patrolling every night since Sirius Black had somehow managed to get in the school _again_ , he was getting no sleep. No sleep, the discovery of coffee, and no one to talk to was beginning to drive him up the wall if he was being honest, which is why when Crabbe and Goyle beg him to go to Hogsmeade with them, he nods about ten times. 

And after he hallucinates Harry’s head in the middle of snow, he decides it’s the worst idea and promptly returns so he can go have a breakdown in Snape’s office.

The professor lets him in and stares, and really, Draco gets it. His hair is a mess, eyes wide and probably a little crazed, robes all in disarray, and LuLu beside him eyeing him like he might just break down crying right here and now.

“Are you….alright?”

Draco looks around, did Snape get more decorations? There’s more potions, a lovely vase of lilies, a new chair? “Professor, when did you get this chair? I haven’t seen it here before.”

Snape raises an eyebrow, “That chair has been here since I first moved into the room, and I implore you to take a seat in it, you’re swaying on your feet.”

Ignoring him, Draco begins to pace, so Snape ends up in a chair instead. 

“You see, professor, it’s just been a peculiar week, is all. I see floating heads all the time, by Merlin we have far too many ghosts who enjoy pranking first years with ‘floating heads’ so it's really no big deal and I know I’m about to sound mad because we both know he’s supposed to be in the school but he really never does do what he’s supposed to, so who’s to say if I have gone ‘round the bin or not-”

“Draco, get on with it.”

“Fine!” He huffs, throwing his hands in the air, “I saw Harry Potter’s head in Hogsmeade and I think it’s because I’m going insane!” 

Snape sighs, and right before he can give any advice Lupin is stepping through his fireplace, “Sorry I’m a bit late, I know we agreed on noon but-oh. Hello, Draco.”

Draco doesn’t even blink, instead he grabs the professor by his arm, “Professor! What perfect timing, tell me, what’s your opinion on the spotting of floating heads?”

“Floating heads?”

“Draco, please for Merlin’s sake-”

“The thing about floating heads,” Draco continues without either teacher asking him to,” is that you can never really tell if they’re real or not. So who’s to say if Harry really _was_ there? He could just be a figment of my imagination, like a weird twisted guilt for leaving the castle, which wasn’t smart because how am I supposed to protect him if I’m not near him, and it’s not like I can just blink and be back here when I’m at Hogsmeade, and that’s why I can’t figure out how the hell Black is getting in and why he hasn’t just killed Harry yet, like he’s had _plenty_ of chances and yet the idiot’s head is just popping up in places it shouldn’t be, isn’t that strange? How did his head get all the way there, without his body?! Insanity! Bloody invisibility cloaks! OH, Merlin, he has one, maybe he _was_ there! Surely not, he isn’t that stupid, oh what am I on about? Yes he is, he went after a bloody giant snake last year like he was just taking a stroll on a Monday afternoon-”

“ _DRACO!_ ” 

He turns to see both professors looking a little scandalized and a lot worried, maybe a little annoyed too, but it is kind of funny to see Snape and Lupin, side by side, hands on hips and matching exasperated expressions. 

“Will you please calm down and explain what you’re on about?” Lupin asks, but Snape shakes his head.

“Trust me, you’d rather not know. Draco, you should go see Dumbledore for a few hours, then come back and we can talk.”

Draco cocks his head to the side, “Dumbledore? Why would I go see-”

“It’s been a while since you’ve seen Fawkes, hasn’t it? Plus I do believe he has news on Buckbeak.” 

Longing punches him right in the chest and Draco suddenly feels very out of place in the middle of Snape’s office when he and Lupin clearly had a planned meeting. He almost asks what they’re going to be talking about, but a glance of Wolf’s Bane later and he decides he’d rather not know.

Draco ends up having tea with Dumbledore, Fawkes and LuLu on either side of him so it’s really quite calming. 

“How is your contract going with Miss Parkinson and Mr. Zabini?”

He shrugs, they’re using the time to test how well he can resist Veritaserum now that he’s been training for a few months. Oddly, he doesn’t feel like bothering with half-truths. “It’s strange, nothing has really changed, but I have been more honest with them.”

“Have they found out about your allegiance yet?”

“No,” he admits, “I can’t find the right way to tell them about Harry, I’ve gotten so good at changing the truth that I don’t think I can ever tell the full truth again.”

Dumbledore gives him a sad smile but changes the topic out of pity, “You’re rather high strung today, Lupin told me you had quite the amusing rambling about floating heads before your arrival here.”

“I...might have discovered the magic of caffeine, and given that I don’t sleep at night and still have classes, I’ve become extremely dependent on it. I’m beginning to worry Blaise and Pansy.”

“So you’ve traded tea for coffee,” Dumbledore muses, a grin on his cheeks. 

“More like developing a love for both.”

Dumbledore laughs this time, loud and boy does it ease something in Draco’s chest, “May I suggest you lay off coffee for the day, you should at least _try_ to sleep at night. Contrary to what you believe, you alone are not responsible for Harry’s safety. This is why we have a team, why I told people about your existence, so that one person would not carry the burden alone.”

Draco nods, because the man is right. They do have a Potter-Protection team, even if some people have no idea it exists. People like all of the Weasleys, even though only Weasley Weasley knew. Granger and Lupin, Snape and Dumbledore, the entire Gryffindor team, if not the whole house. All those people and him, surely that would be able to keep Harry from coming face to face with Sirius Black. 

Speaking of the killer…..

“Sir, can I ask you something?” 

Dumbledore nods.

“Right, so. I don’t understand why Harry is still alive-okay I didn’t mean it like that but, think about it sir. Black has been around him so many times now, he was _right by Harry’s bed_ and didn’t kill him? He’s had so many chances, and if he is as good of a killer as people make him out to bed, wouldn’t Potter be dead by now? I don’t get it…”

The headmaster does something he hasn’t done in a very, very long time. He looks away, refusing to meet Draco’s eyes, almost like he also doesn’t understand...or maybe…

“People are not always what other people make them out to be.”

Draco’s heart stops. _You’ve got to be fucking kidding me…._

“You don’t think Black’s a killer, do you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Latin Trans:  
> Nito: Test  
> O cara...placet hoc fix…: Oh dear...please fix this.  
> Clmex! Adiuva me! Noli ridens, hoc est non ridiculam!: Assholes! Help me out! Stop laughing, this isn't funny!
> 
> Hi! I'm trying to write longer chapters, also I got my new laptop in so yay!!! Anyways, let me know if you like longer or shorter chapters and if you liked this one, see you all with the next update!


	10. Effects of Forgotten Truth Serum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pansy smiles at them, “We’re really three idiots aren’t we?”
> 
> “Oh absolutely.”
> 
> “No doubt about that.” 

He’s thought about the possibilities before, but now he was sure it was his only future. See, he couldn’t claw his eyes out because a spy with no eyes was rather useless, same with all his other bodily features. He needs his legs to run, arms to hold his wand, lips to talk, so really his hair is all he has left. 

Though he won’t have much of it soon if he _does_ rip his hair out.

“Lemon-drop?” Dumbledore offers, albeit sheepishly.

Draco just stares at him, glare becoming harder and colder by the second. “No, thank you headmaster, I would _not_ like a lemon-drop, or any tea, or a seat at the moment. But, I would like you to _please explain_ what in Merlin’s name you’re thinking. The last time _I_ checked, Sirius Black was a _known criminal_ who has a hankering only the Potter bloodline can quench. So, please, if you would be so kind to _enlighten me_ about whatever _questionable knowledge_ you’ve managed to produce that states otherwise!”

“Right…” Dumbledore pops a yellow orb into his own mouth, and while he does refrain from verbally offering Draco a chair, he does point to one. Draco sits, but only because he’s sure that this is going to be another long conversation where he gets no real answers.

“Do you remember what I told you about Snape and his personal vendettas in all this?”

Draco nods, it was kind of hard to forget when Snape seemed to go out of his way to make Lupin’s life hell some days.

“Do you think he has a better opinion of the person who he hated even more?”

Logically, no. Hell, if Blaise and Pansy left him and started treating Ron like he was the best thing since Warming Charms, he would probably go after the red-headed bastard himself. But logic and Dumbledore were rarely friends.

“Severus didn’t know Sirius like I did, he doesn’t know many things, including that the I was the person to inform Mr. Black of his two best friend’s deaths.”

Draco’s eyes widen. “You-!”

“Sirius Black was returning from a trip to his family’s house that night. He meant to make nice with his brother, and a few other members of his family. Naturally it didn’t end well, I assume you know how your family feels about blood purity, and his choice in lovers was frowned upon to say the least. He was coming to see the Potters and ask for advice, but I was there instead. Sirius tried to warn Lupin, but his mother was quicker...she accused him, and we had no proof to state his innocence.” 

“But you knew.” Draco manages after moment to collect himself. “You’ve known the whole time that Black wasn’t the real murder...and you still let him rot in Azkaban..”

Dumbledore sighs, “We had no one else to pin the blame on, we didn’t have the faintest clue as to _who_ could have-who _would_ have….three adult wizards dead, two of them extremely powerful and known for their fights against Voldemort….you know how the _Daily Prophet_ runs wild with these things-”

“Did it ever occur to you that perhaps Potter would love to know this information?” Draco can’t explain where the anger comes from, but it fuels some weird righteousness inside him. He’d seen, up close and personal, how everything that _did_ happen was effecting Harry. Eye bags no child should have, the constant lost look, not to mention the physical damage from first year alone. “Do you even care about him? You’ve seen the stuff he’s gone through in the past three years, you know this is nothing compared to what’s coming but you can’t even manage a ‘hi, Harry, thought you’d like to know that your parents were loved and not brutally betrayed!’ Hasn’t he been through enough _without_ you lying to him? We’re already at too many disadvantages here, need I remind you that the ‘Savior of the Wizarding World’ is _thirteen._ What possible good would driving him to rage-filled revenge do?”

Dumbledore narrows his eyes, “I don’t believe I was the one who encouraged revenge.”

“Well, I’m also only thirteen, aren’t I,” Draco sneers back. 

“The _purpose,”_ Dumbledore continues, although an uncomfortable look has settled on his face, “Of hiding such information from Harry is to avoid breaking him.”

Draco’s already snarling back before he can fully process the words, “ _Yes_ because letting him be driven mad so he can sneak around the castle and find _even more trouble-_ wait. What do you mean?”

“I know vengeance is a powerful emotion, but I assure you that heartbreak is much worse.” Acting like that cleared up everything, Dumbledore rises to get another lemon drop. He doesn’t speak again until his back is towards Draco, face probably staring into flames within the fireplace. 

“Imagine if Harry _did_ know the truth about Sirius’s innocence...can you really see him sitting by and letting his god-father go back to Azkaban? I’m personally not sure if Sirius will ever see those walls again….but if he is captured by a Dementor before he can- unfortunately- slip into safety...it would mean another life lost for Harry. He’s been through too much as it is, I daresay another loss so early in life would be the death of him, especially because Sirius and Mr. Potter were so close. Having spent many hours thinking over the situation, I assure you I have spent many sleepless nights on the topic, I decided that it would be safest for Harry not to know the truth until Sirius has fully achieved freedom, by trial or….other means.”

The anger is still there and making him want to do something stupid, like maybe punch the old geezer, or at least knock steaming tea on the freshly cleaned carpet, but he does have a point. Harry Potter had spent two years hating his guts, and it only took roughly thirty minutes and a violent exchange to change his mind. It would no doubt take roughly five minutes for him to become attached to his god-father, and he would raise hell at the thought of him being in prison. Clearly, Dumbledore had some plan to keep that from happening, but Draco still left the office annoyed and bothered. LuLu trotted along beside him, as if sensing that he wanted to be alone but also knew it wasn’t the wisest decision for him to be by himself. Who knows what trouble he would get into with his current mood.

He was tired of seeing people suffer. Seeing himself in chains didn’t matter that much, if he was honest. At one point his safety had meant everything to him, but he could barely find the will to care about it now. He did care about his mother being sent away, though. And the horror of last year’s hospital wing having to be expanded did. And the innocent lives that somehow kept getting swept up in a war that never truly ended. They shouldn’t be forced to fight what their parents couldn’t. 

Draco shouldn’t have to suffer for his father’s mistakes, and Harry shouldn’t either. 

That thought is probably what drives him to do it. Moonlight leaks in from the windows on his way down from Dumbledore’s office, so he knew it was night. How late it was he did not know, so when he realized that most of the paintings were glaring at him as he walked by, he tried to piece it together. 

Obviously it was past curfew and well into the night, which left him figuring out where the hours had gone. Crabbe and Goyle dragged him out of the castle around three, and it took nearly a full hour to get to Hogsmeade by foot; they’d spent at least that long looking around in shops before he saw Harry’s floating head around five fifty. Factoring in an hour to get back to school meant he was in Snape’s around seven, his breakdown lasted about thirty minutes, and it took at least thirty to make a hazy walk from the dungeons to Dumbledore’s office where he had tea and Fawkes time that usually lasted two hours on any normal day, but he also vaguely remembered glancing at a clock and seeing it strike ten, which is roughly when he remembers LuLu joining him. His argument with Dumbledore had started roughly fifteen minutes after ten thirty, and had to last for at least forty five minutes. Which meant he was walking around the castle close to midnight, roughly two hours after curfew.

Given his calculations, he’s a little surprised to hear Snape and Harry hissing at each other down the corridor. 

“ _You insolent brat!”_

Or maybe he shouldn’t be surprised at all. Draco quickens his pace and arrives to the two at the same time Lupin steps into the light supplied by Snape’s wand.

“Is everything alright?” They ask at the same time. 

Two dark heads swivel to glare at both of them, Harry manages a ‘what are _you_ doing here?’ while Snape offers a useful explanation.

“I found Mister Potter sneaking around in the dark with _this,”_ he thrusts a piece of parchment into Lupin’s hands, “Peculiar, isn’t it? How Dark Magic seems to find its way into the same student’s hands year after year.”

Lupin raises an eyebrow, “All I see is a paper with a sense of humor. Ah! It has one more message for you, should I read it aloud for the class?”

“I would kindly ask that you-”

“ ‘ _Mr. Wormtail bids Professor Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slimeball.’”_

Even Draco can’t contain his snickers, which doesn’t help the murderous face Snape gives all three of them. Luckily Lupin isn’t done.

“Seriously, Severus. It appears to be a charm that rudely suggests hygiene tips. Nothing too dangerous, but I will hold on to it if it makes you feel better, afterall,” the werewolf shifts his gaze to the students, “it doesn’t explain why you two are out of bed and wondering about so late.”

“I’ve just come from tea with Dumbledore,” Draco informs them.

Harry has a little bit of a hard time getting off the hook. “I, um, read the message and thought that I should pass it along to you, professor. Hygiene is important.” 

Snape sends him a gaze so full of furry Draco gets a vivid image of the Potion’s Master strangling the boy with two witnesses right in front of him. Before that can happen, he steps forward. 

“I’ll escort Potter back to his room.”

“Right,” Lupin says, joining him in shielding Harry from Snape’s wrath. 

Unfortunately, he can’t take the man with them. Snape grab’s Lupin’s arm right as he nudges Potter.

“I’d like a word with you, _Mr. Moony.”_

Draco’s sure to steer Harry further away from the two teachers before he can ask what the nickname meant.

They walk in silence for a bit, LuLu between them and perfectly content, if only he could say the same. One glance, all it takes it _one glance_ at Harry’s face and he’s angry all over again. No child should look this worn down. So sad, so tired, so defeated. There are bags under his eyes that rival Draco’s, his hands twitch constantly, hell he looks like Draco imaged himself looking when he was in Snape’s office only hours before. Anger is never a good emotion, it leads to people doing stupid things. 

Like pausing in the middle of the hallway.

Harry slows to a stop, turning back to give him a questioning look. All it takes is one glace for Draco to mentally say fuck it, reminding himself that he’s already going to die if he’s discovered. What’s one more thing?

“We’re already out,” He begins, “We’ve already gotten in trouble, so the worst has really already happened.”

No it hasn’t. The worst is Sirius finding them, turning out _not_ to be innocent, and killing the Boy Who Lived right in front of his useless eyes. But Harry is already starting to look a bit less like a depressed lump, and Draco’s already resolved to have a large cup of coffee in the morning.

“Follow me, Potter.”

And Harry fucking does it. Follows him blindly up at least ten sets of stairs, through a few secret passages, and right to the Astronomy towers. He goes without a word or a second thought and blimey how the hell was this idiot not dead yet. Draco’s half tempted to ask what the fuck Harry thought he was doing; the two had been enemies and he _knows_ he threatened to hex the boy if they were alone again, so why did he blindly-

Harry sucks in a deep breath and Draco decides that maybe a lecture on safety can wait. 

During the day, the Astronomy tower was beautiful. It’s view stretched for miles and miles, he could make out smoke from Hogsmeade, see trees and the clouds and the clear blue skies...but at night. 

At night it was everything a person never knew they needed. 

Stars twinkled down at them from the heavens, bleeding into lights from the village. Up in this tower, there was nothing but those calming twinkles, an escape of darkness that didn’t swallow up the world, but gently tucked all the worries away. Harry would have to wade through billions and billions of stars before he was allowed to face the real world, and that’s exactly why Draco had brought the boy up here. 

Eventually they do sit down, and Draco lugs over two blankets for them both. LuLu makes a bed in the middle of them, purring with every gentle stroke he gives her. Harry keeps his eyes on the sky and no one can blame him.

They stay like that for a long time, just two kids and a weird cat under the stars. Disconnected from the chaos around them, the war that would start the second Draco had to unlock those doors. 

“Did you know…..” Harry begins, “That I hadn’t had a proper meal until my first night at Hogwarts? At the Dursley’s I was only allowed scraps, if I was allowed anything at all. I thought it was cruel of them then, to make me cook their meals and not let me have anything but bits they didn’t want twice a week, all the while complaining and downgrading my mother and father and ‘their kind’. ‘Course I didn’t know they were talking about wizards until Hagrid showed up and turned Dudley into a pig….”

Draco doesn’t know what to say, so he listens. And to his surprise, Harry keeps going. 

“So I spent all of my life, eating scraps, barely seeing the outside world, locked away in this little cupboard, constantly being told about how awful ‘my kind’ are and then one day a giant shows up and brings me to this place….this _castle..._ and I get to eat like a king? I don’t think you understand, I had no one. Not a single soul had shown me kindness until Hagrid, and when Ron’s mom didn’t even blink before she helped me...I was floored. And then Ron...he just sat with me and filled me in on what he could without even looking at me funny. I’d never been so accepted, never had a friend before, but suddenly there was this new world and someone who was my age but didn’t order me around like a slave, or hit me, or even _insult_ me. I was amazed...and then we got inside and I met this arrogant little prick who had the audacity to talk about my first ever friend like the Dursley’s talked about me.”

Their eyes have met by now, green and grey peering into each other, and Draco had to admit that everything does make a lot more sense with that knowledge. However it’s gotten unbearably hard for him to breath, and he can’t have that. 

“Well, you have to understand. That arrogant little prick hadn’t ever met anyone who refused to shake his hand.”

Harry gives him a look, but the two burst into giggles anyways. They laugh a little too hard, waking up LuLu in the process, who meows angrily at both of them before settling back down.

“Why’d you drag me up here?” Harry asks when they calm, “I thought we weren’t supposed to be friends.”

And isn’t that the million dollar question? Draco doesn’t really know himself, but he did promise to answer any question Harry asked, and maybe if he just opened his mouth he could get _something_ out.

“Because I knew you wouldn’t have stayed in your dorm for long….” Harry looks like he knows that’s not all, so Draco gives up and lets his walls crack a little, “And because I’ve been thinking. A lot. Like so much I’m surprised my head hasn’t fallen off. I should have gone mad by now, and maybe I have because I was the one who dragged you up here and our record states that it should have been the other way-”

“The point, if you please.”

Draco shoots him a small glare, but he stands up to pace, somehow not waking his beloved Kneazle. 

“The point, Potter, is that you’re right. And I don’t say that often, Merlin usually I’m cursing every decision and word you say but I’ve put a lot of thought into this and had at least three people trying to talk me into it.” He takes a deep breath, “See, at first I couldn’t be your friend because you didn’t know and it’s dangerous for you to know. My purpose is to keep you safe from danger, so keeping you far away from me was a pretty good plan until….well until you got it in your head to be friends. And sure, I had thought about it before because your friends always manage to get you into bizarre situations so maybe if I had a say in things you’d be safe, but I still thought it was too much to hope for. “

Draco turns around on one foot, “But you _know_ now. All of it, well most of it, and it’s still very _not safe_ for us to be in public together, but why the hell can’t we be friends? What the fuck is supposed to stop us? A crazed maniac? We already have one of those. A killer? Got that one too. Friends that hate the other? Well that’s taken care of on both sides, hasn't it. My father is going to kill me anyways, and you certainly don't need another asshole in your life. Dumbledore will be happy about it, and dammit!"

"We deserve something as simple as a friendship after all this bullshit don’t we?!” he yells, whirling to capture green eyes with something blazing behind his own. 

It takes Harry a few seconds to realize the question isn’t rhetorical, and when he does he smiles. “I say we do.”

“Then we do!” Draco snaps, a little too violently for the situation. Awkwardness hangs between them for a moment, and then Harry pats at the space beside LuLu. Draco sits down in it, wrapping himself up in the blanket and getting a little embarrassed about his outburst until Harry lightly touches his arm.

“Can you tell me something happy?”

Draco takes a long hard look at his face; the bags, the sad eyes, the hopeful smile. And then he leans a little closer and tells Harry about his mother. He talks about how when he was little she tried to teach him to bake cakes and the house elves went mental over it. He tells Harry about their favorite parts of the garden, how she’d been there for every broom ride. His father comes up, naturally, but it’s his real father. The one that taught him to swim and warm hot cocoa so they didn’t have to move from watching the snow fall. The same man who spelled bubbles to tickle and kiss him when he scraped his knee. Lucius Malfoy, the man who once danced with his mother while he played the piano and the house elves hung flowers in the ballroom. 

They don’t talk about the man who chained him up and tortured him over break.

But they do eventually end up leaning on one another, LuLu curled up between their laps. Conversation has slowed to a stop and in the back of his mind Draco wonders how badly he lost track of time, how soon it would be until they had to go back- and they did have to go back. Pansy would have his head for being out so late, and he had a feeling Granger would react the same for Harry.

Harry, whose eyes are steadily drooping.

“Come on,” Draco whispers, “I think I managed to tire you out, and a bed is much more comfortable than the floor.”

Potter snorts back at him, but they stand and LuLu doesn’t even protest when Draco gently cradles her in his arms. They walk back still closer than normal, after all it’s a cold night and body heat is a lovely thing. Neither of them speak, but it’s in an unusual way. Draco doesn’t feel like he _has_ to speak. He can just exist, beside Harry, no words or excuses needed. It’s all fine and dandy, and then a question hits him right as they near the Fat Lady. 

“Harry,” the name feels weird with no malice to it, but Draco kind of likes it, “Why were you out so late?”

“Hmm? Oh…” Harry bites his lip, then lets out a long sigh. “You’re about to think me mental-”

“I already do. Don’t give me that look, you make it too easy!”

Harry rolls his eyes, “Right...well, you prat, that paper is actually this weird map of the school, lets me see names of people in real life and all that.”

“So _that’s_ how you’ve been sneaking around so much! Like an invisibility cloak isn’t enough, you had a fucking guide book as well? Thank Merlin Lupin took it from you, only Salazar knows what kind of trouble you could’ve gotten yourself into!”

“Will you stop interrupting me for five seconds, or do you not care about the rest of the story?”

Draco slams his mouth shut.

“Thank you,” Harry huffs, “I was looking to see if Black was anywhere, because contrary to your personal beliefs, I _don’t_ like being in danger, but I saw a name on the map that struck me as odd because the map doesn’t lie, but the person in question is known to be dead.”

Nothing like a nice bedtime story. Draco takes a deep gulp, already regretting asking the question, “Who was it?”

“Peter Pettigrew.” 

_Fucking bloody hell_

\----------

It took all of five minutes to convince Harry to go to bed, and the boy had protested even after Draco swore they would talk to Dumbledore about it first thing in the morning. Not that Draco was looking forward to seeing the man after their last tea session where he stormed out in anger. That being said, he did get the coot’s reasoning. 

He had wanted to tell Potter so badly. To reassure him that not everything in the world was awful and out to get him, that the people who loved his parents were good people. But one look into those eyes broke his resolve, and the request for something happy completely shattered it. How could he offer something that would mean so much only to have it stolen away.

Like always, Dumbledore was right. Harry deserved happiness, but there was no point getting the boy’s hopes up. 

What a hypocritical thought. Here he was, going after something he knew was stupid and dangerous because it made him happy, all the while deciding what happiness should be for other people. 

Then again, Draco needs a little happiness. Desperately needs it. Long nights are cold when there’s no company but thoughts and fears. Pain had proved useful to ground him just like he thought it would; he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t put his own ebony knife to good use on his thighs. On the plus side, his knife wasn’t cursed, so the cuts he gave himself only lasted for a few days, unlike the one on his arm that was just beginning to heal from where it had been reopened over break. 

Pansy and Blaise had been there, but it was so _hard_ to reach out to them. He was never serious about killing himself, so they never came rushing in during his ‘grounding sessions’, but he dreaded the day they did. He’d have to open up then, Potions test or not. 

Almost like he’d have to open up now, even though the Tempus her wand cast clearly read 3:03 a.m. 

“ _Where have you been?!_ ” She seethes, Blaise not far off from her expression, “No _lies._ No thinking about some elaborate excuse so you can avoid the truth. We are _contracted_ and I am _sick and tired_ of-”

“I was with Harry Potter.” He sighs. 

Apparently it’s not what Pansy was expecting. She takes a step back into a frozen Blaise, who looks at him like he’s lost every last shred of sanity, but Draco is tired and not in the right state of mind to refuse them, and since he’s already spilled his guts to one friend tonight, why not clue in his two best friends while he’s at it. 

“Well, at first I wasn’t. Can we go somewhere a little more private for this conversation? Listening ears and all that.” 

None of them know what to do, but the common room does. A door appears right between the two main fireplaces. Draco takes one look at it, shrugs, and then leads his friends into a surprisingly well kept room, green couches and three cups of tea waiting. He gently sinks into one of the couches, leaning all the way back so he can finally rest his head, and waving a blanket on top of him and the Kneazle curled up on his left collarbone. 

“Sit down, will you. This is going to be a long one, oh, and shut the door will you, Blaise-bear? This is one of those things that if you talk about it, you’ll die, so we probably shouldn’t let people know too much about it.”

Blaise does close the door, and then takes a seat beside Pansy on the chairs across from his couch. No one touches the tea. 

“Draco.” Pansy begins in a strained voice, “Explain. Quickly please.”

And he does. Draco goes all the way back to when he first got himself into this mess. Something about Quirrell had rubbed him the wrong way, so he went and complained to Dumbledore who had cryptically told him to be careful. And because he, the big bad eleven-year-old, thought himself capable, he had taken matters into his own hands and started following around weird people. Like Quirrell, and Harry Potter, which is how he ended up saving Harry from the beasts in the woods that was very weird because the very same beast he saved Potter from was the one that Quirrell met with a lot and when Draco saw the man _absorb_ the thing into the back of head, well, he knew it wasn’t right and ran back to tell Dumbledore. And then break had happened and his father was being weird, like really weird. Like getting mad at him for not befriending said Scar Face and ‘teaching him a lesson’ for it. He told them how things got worse and worse until the day before he went back when Lucius had given him his first black eye all while ranting about how the ‘Dark Lord’ was going to be so disappointed.

Naturally, Draco skipped over the emotional part of it all. There’s no need to tell them about how scared and helpless he’s felt, or how horrified he’d been to witness certain things, or the relief he had when he returned and went straight to Snape for help. He’d told Snape everything and the man had taken him to Dumbledore and made Draco tell him everything too, because despite how many students he knew were abused, once someone opened their mouth about it, it wasn’t taken lightly. Somehow in the middle of the two talking and asking him about how often his father beat him, he started to think.

And Draco did fill his friends in on what his younger self figured out. 

“You see, Potter beat the Dark Lord as a baby, and there I was, standing between the most powerful wizard in the world and the most powerful Potions Master in the world, both allied with the kid who beat the Dark Lord without even trying. I’d have been a fool not to pick my side then and there. Plus I saw with my own two eyes what following the Dark Lord does to your mind...it’s not pretty.”

He went on to tell them about realizing how vital Potter was to defeating evil should it rise again, and the sickening feeling that it already had, and about how Harry had managed to survive the Dark Lord all over again near the end of first year. Then he told them about second year, leaving out as much of his abuse as he could, while still alluding to it for the big reveal of Potter seeing the altercation between himself and Lucius after he thought he was in the clear. Then he told him half of the truth about this past summer, and how Harry had taken every chance to befriend him this year and how he’d finally given up and decided nothing was really stopping him.

“So,” Their tea has long grown cold, his friends wear matching shocked expressions, but they haven’t run away screaming yet. “That’s the truth. As much of it as you’ll get out of me, anyways. I am currently spying on my father and anything else suspicious so I can keep Potter alive, and since I’m protecting him it kinda made sense to befriend him, and yes I’m also working with Dumbledore and Snape, and now I’ve admitted to you two that I am a blood traitor, a worthless excuse for a pureblood, and probably gone mental. But neither of you can talk about it, so now you get to go mad with me.” 

Blaise and Pansy slump in their seats and he can’t resist the dig.

“Aren’t you glad to be nosey now…” 

After a long and anxious bout of nothingness, Pansy spells her tea warm and takes a sip. “Well, I’d call you an idiot, but you’ve already made up your mind and you’re in far too deep now.”

“Which,” Blaise follows suit, leaning back and wrapping the blanket tighter around his shoulders, “means we’re also in deep now.”

Draco sits up so fast he nearly throws LuLu off him, “What?”

“Really Draco…”

Pansy rolls her eyes, “We’ve said it before, but we obviously haven’t gotten in through your thick skull. Neither of us agree with your decisions, but we don’t regret ours. _You_ are our family, and you know how much that means.”

“We wouldn’t dream of ratting you out, but Merlin, can’t you at least try to make better choices?! The stress is going to wreak havoc on my skin! I’m amazed you haven’t gone bald yet.”

Draco could kiss them. He really could, and he would if it didn’t mean waking up LuLu for the seventh time in one night. Instead he gives them a smile he can only hope conveys the gratitude he’s feeling.

“It’s a real fear of mine, we’ll have to start looking into hair-replenishing potions.”

“Or dying spells, preferably not green or pink.” 

Pansy smiles at them, “We’re really three idiots aren’t we?”

“Oh absolutely.”

“No doubt about that.” 

LuLu growls at him like she also thinks they’re stupid, and with that the settle down on their respective cushions to get at least two hours of sleep before classes. Call him a sappy moron, but it’s the best two hours of sleep he’s ever had in his whole life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we are LAYING DOWN THE FOUNDATIONS people!!!! Prepare! Get out your finest clothes! I am Losing My Mind and you're all coming with me!!!


	11. The Longest Day Ever Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re all prats, but we’re saving a life here, so let’s make this as painless as possible.”

They end up making a group decision not to go to class the next day. 

And really, it’s the room that decides for them. 

Draco wakes up first, swearing he fell asleep on a couch and not a bloody comfortable bed, and that his friends had been in chairs not under sheets and fluffy blankets. He’s also pretty sure that their school books hadn’t been by a giant fireplace, and that none of them thought to cast a warming spell on a cup of coffee that definitely hadn’t been there last night. LuLu doesn’t seem to mind the development, though, so Draco decides it really isn’t _such_ a bad thing. A day inside with his friends doesn’t seem that bad, and really they’re not missing much. Care of Magical Creatures had been put on hold, and although he doesn’t know why, he does have a rather bad feeling about it.

Pansy and Blaise don’t even bat an eyelash when they wake to find him and LuLu pouring over their Potions assignment, they merely sink to the floor, dragging their blankets with them, and open their own books. 

The room supplies nearly everything except food and a clock, so when their stomachs do finally start rumbling they make a real, brain powered, decision to leave. According to the grand clock in the common room, they were right on time for lunch.

“Really,” Pansy's saying, “Who knew it was even there.”

“Life is a mystery, darling, if we question every weird thing we see we’d be at this table for the next ten years.”

Draco doesn’t even bother rolling his eyes at Blaise, or explaining to Crabbe and Goyle where they had disappeared to. Partly because he’s too busy shoving food into his mouth and then choking on it when he sees his father’s owl coming towards him.

Blaise, bless him, pats his back until his air pipes are no longer blocked by steamed broccoli, and even makes an effort to remain close when he opens the letter.

Something about ignorance being bliss comes to mind as he reads, and then rereads the stupid thing. Hagrid’s vanishing act starts to make a lot more sense as phrases like ‘ _that awful creature and ignorant oaf stood trial_ ’ and ‘ _the death sentence was really the only option’_ finally start to sink in. Draco’s personal favorite is _‘the mockery upon our name must be wiped out’_ , as though his ancestors would be proud of his father’s willingness to act like a fangirl over something as stupid as an evil lizard-man. 

He’s on his feet before he knows it. 

“Draco? Where are you going?”

Pansy and Blaise call after him, and he’s fully aware that he’s more than likely causing a rather big scene by fleeing the Great Hall after making a very late appearance in the day, but he’s also a little busy trying to fix his father’s bullshit. Again. 

Hagrid’s hut still disgusts him, and Merlin does he hate the walk down, but his father hadn’t told him the final remark, and he had to be sure before throwing himself into finding a course of action. Two knocks later and he regrets coming more than he regrets being born into a shit-show of a family.

“What ‘re ye doin here?” Hagrid sniffs, eyes red-rimmed and snot still in his beard. 

Draco takes it in stride, “Are they really going to kill him?” He lets an edge of worry creep into his voice, just so his act is a little more convincing. 

Hagrid _sobs_. “Come to gloat, then?! As if losing’ Buckbeak ain’t enough…”

Deciding that doesn’t dignify a response, Draco turns on his heel and marches to the side of the man’s hut, finding the Hippogriff and bowing deeply. He knows Hagrid is watching, but at this point he doesn’t fucking care. 

Buckbeak bows back and makes to come near him, but a chain keeps him from going far so Draco meets him halfway, hands reaching out to stroke surprisingly soft feathers. 

“I know I’m an asshole,” He whispers, “But I swear if there is any good left to my name I will not let an innocent creature die for my father’s mistakes. Not without a damn fight.” 

And although he knows Hagrid can’t hear him, no one could miss the nuzzle Buckbeak gives him in response. 

\----------

He’s deep in law books in the middle of what should be his free period when he remembers his promise to Potter. 

The reminder comes in the form of said Scar Face glaring at him from three tables away, beady green eyes ruining his search for a fault in his father’s reasoning. Once he does remember, he’s out the door before Harry can think to corner him. How the boy manages to catch up to him in Dumbledore’s stairway, he has no fucking clue.

“I forgot!” Is the only excuse he can offer, because it’s really the only one he has. 

“Forgot?! _You_ came up with the bloody plan!”

“How else was I supposed to get you to bed? I had a late night, give me a break.”

Harry looks like he’s about to ask what the fuck that means, but Dumbledore is in front of them with a strange, but happy, look.

“Boys,” He smiles, “What a pleasure to see the two of you together. How may I assist you?”

Draco takes a seat, Fawkes greets them both before they settle in with tea and somehow spend the next two hours recounting their previous night to an asshole of an old man. Neither of them bring up the Astrology tower, Harry willingly goes along with the lie that he walked the boy straight back to his dorm. Somehow it makes the whole thing seem a lot more intimate than it really was.

The bad news is that Dumbledore didn’t know Pettigrew was alive, but apparently he never trusted the man in the first place. The good news, if you could call it that, was that Dumbledore also already knew Pettigrew was an issue. 

“More secrets, I presume?” Draco draws in his most seething voice yet.

“I have no idea what you mean.”

He’d give anything to wipe the look of innocence off the fuckers face, but Harry is in the room. Somehow, and only Merlin knows how he does it, they finish their conversation without any hexes being thrown. Draco’s half convinced he’s managed to get away with his little comment, but then he and Potter begin to take their leave for dinner and Dumbledore decides now would be a great time to add to Draco’s ever growing reasons to question his sanity.

“I heard you visited Hagrid today….”

They were so close, literally three feet from the fucking door but that one sentence makes Draco freeze in place, and Harry, the complete dumbass, turns and gives the headmaster a confused look.

“But I didn’t-” Draco can _feel_ his eyes widen. He would pause to have a chat about it, but he’s a bit too busy fleeing from the room with his head held high like he’s not about to run and complain to Snape. It’s a shame, really, he’s sure Dumbledore would’ve loved to see the annoyance creep into his face.

Like most things lately, his plan doesn’t work out.

Harry grabs him by the arm and hauls him into an empty classroom, casting locking and silencing spells before Draco can even think to be angry.

“ _You_ went to see _Hagrid?!”_

“Shouldn’t you be worrying about Pettigrew instead of gawking at my humanity?” 

Potter completely ignores him. “Is that where you were this morning? No, because Hagrid didn’t get back until lunch! Me, Ron, and ‘Mione were going to go visit him after dinner, but you went after lunch didn’t you?! That’s why you stormed off in a huff-”

“I’m honored to frequent your thoughts, really, but isn’t it a bit early for this conversation?”

That Harry has no problem hearing, or laughing at that. “Draco, my gang once brewed Polyjuice Potion in a girl’s bathroom, I’m fairly good at not getting caught.”

Draco has to bite back a scathing comment about how well his Crabbe and Goyle impression had been. He literally chomps down on his tongue before rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. “Is that why you dragged me in here? To gloat about your shitty impression of my friends?”

So maybe he could only bite back the _‘you’re a moronic bloody git’_ part, but Harry takes it in stride and has the audacity to look at him like _he’s_ the crazy one. In his defense, he has only had two hours of sleep in the past two days and potions and coffee can only do so much.

“Merlin no, I wanna know why you went to see Hagrid.”

Draco has been called many things in his thirteen years, but no one had ever accused him of being patient. 

“I went to have bloody tea with him. We ate fancy cakes and parted the best of friends with the promise of adding him to my manor floo network.”

Harry rolls his eyes, “Yes and I’m sure Snape dresses in a lovely pink gown whenever you have tea too. The truth. Please.”

“Just because we’re friends now does not mean I have to tell you all my sodding secrets-”

“I’m trying to save Buckbeak, okay?” Looks like Harry has figured out shouting does in fact shut Draco up for a few minutes. “The three of us have been at it since we found out there was even going to be a trial. And you’re right, you don’t have to tell me all your juicy life details, but there is an innocent life at stake here and I’d rather not see it ended just because your father is a dickhead!”

The worst part of it all is that Draco can’t find a single point to argue with in Potter’s little speech, so he sighs and lets go of his defensive potion. He really needs to work on whatever hold Scar Face has on him that makes him want to tell the truth. It’s starting to damage his personality. 

“I went to find out if what my father said was true. I didn’t even know there _was_ a trial until I got his letter at lunch, and when I realized the beast is facing the death penalty, I didn’t believe it, so I went to ask the oaf for myself.” Draco rakes a hand through his hair, “I’ve been in the library going through wizard law books trying to find something to change their mind because once a sentence is set it can still be challenged but there’s only six weeks before the executioner comes knocking, so I’m running on a bit of strict schedule.”

“ _We’re_ running on a strict schedule.”

Whiplash. He’s definitely going to get whiplash if Harry keeps saying things that makes him turn his head so quickly.

“We? Who is this we, Potter?”

On a scale of awful to hellish, the smile he’s looking at is probably the second worst thing he’s seen today, right under realizing a pure creature was going to die because of him. It honestly activates his flight or fight response more than his father does, and that’s saying something.

“We, as in me, you, Ron, and Hermione.”

Even if he wanted to he couldn’t stop the horror gripping his every atom. _“No._ No-Potter! Absolutely not! Do you have brain cells left in that big head of yours?! Let me spell it out for you! I. Am. A. _Slytherin_ . We don’t hang out with you honor-loving wankers! Not to mention that Weasleys and Malfoys have hated each other since before my _parents_ were born! And what about _Granger?!_ She _loathes_ me!”

Harry’s smile doesn’t even dim, much to Draco’s growing sense of doom.

“No. It’s _not happening._ ” 

“Oh it’s happening.”

_“No.”_

“Come on, Draco,” Fuck, is he getting used to Potter using his name? “Think about it! You and ‘Mione are the two smartest people in the whole school! We have a better chance of saving Buckbeak together than we do separately, and you know it. Do you want to save him or not?”

Shit. He’s half-tempted to bang his head against the wall until he has a concussion so bad he’s useless for the rest of the school year, possibly the rest of his miserable life. But, ass-for-brains Potter makes an excellent point, plus if he managed to wrangle Granger into not hating him, he could figure out how the hell she was taking every class known to third-years. Their little trio had pulled off more things than Draco had thought possible of children, and if anyone could help him here it would be them. Not even Pansy, with her lawyer father, and Blaise, with his never ending bookcases would be of use to him for this expedition...but they could provide relief. 

“I have a condition.”

Harry grins like the sun is shining out of his ass. “What is it? Tea? Cookies? A winning streak in Quidditch?”

“Pansy and Blaise get to come.” 

Draco was proud of not rising to the Quidditch bait, but only because he has the satisfaction of watching Harry’s blood drain from his face. Finally, a way to pay back all those headaches. 

“No-”

“Now, _Harry.”_

“Absolutely not! You’re one thing, and they are another! We know you’re on our side but-”

“I trust them with my life.” Draco lets the words hang between them for a moment before continuing. “You know they’re contracted to me with a blood binding spell of all things. They wouldn’t be able to talk about anything even if they wanted to, but seeing that their loyalty lies with me I doubt they _would_ want to.”

He can see the gears turning in Potter’s head like he’s mulling over some life or death crisis. “I thought Slytherins were loyal to their families first.”

“Surely you know family doesn’t always mean blood. Besides, did you really expect me to walk into the lion’s den outnumbered?”

Their plan is stupid, it’s so fucking idiotic and Blaise and Pansy remind him of this for the full twenty-six hours between him telling them about it and their arrival at the old Alchemy classroom door. 

“May I reiterate that this is the dumbest thing we’ve ever done?” 

“Well, Pansy didn’t call us three idiots for nothing.”

Pansy smacks his arm, “I meant that as a _joke!_ Not as a ‘let’s join the Golden Trio’ bullshit! I still think we need to take you to Madam Pomfrey and get your head looked at.”

They could stand outside and argue about this all night long, but it’s also an hour past curfew and the three of them look more suspicious than they ever have. Before Blaise can agree and start dragging him away, Draco throws the door open and shoves his friends inside. 

From the looks of things, Harry was having a similar conversation.

To call it awkward would be the understatement of the century. A more accurate word would be painful, excruciating maybe. Something along those lines.

Weasley scowls at them, his face a very unattractive blotchy purple that isn’t doing anything for his freckles. Granger looks a little less insulted, but her eyes are guarded. She shifts her gaze between them like she’s trying to think of the worst that could happen and that’s exactly what Draco’s doing. At least she’s not likely to hex them without provoking on their part. Harry just tries to smile, but it comes out forced and wary. The two sets of three glare and size each other up until Granger huffs and steps forward, sticking her hand out for Draco to shake.

“You’re all prats, but we’re saving a life here, so let’s make this as painless as possible.”

For a moment he’s genuinely shocked, but then a smile spreads across his lips and he finds himself shaking her hand.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

Surprisingly, when they’re not busy insulting each other, the two of them get along swimmingly. Granger leads him over to a desk with notes piled as high as a text book and they pointedly ignore everyone else in the room to dive head-first into them. Sometime during all their debate on whether it would be worth pointing out that Buckbeak was only reacting to his natural instincts, the rest of their weird combination had piled around. He does note that Weasley and Harry stay closer to Granger and Pansy and Blaise stay close to him. 

“That won’t work, Granger, my father doesn’t use practical logic when he knows there isn’t any. He puts on a show and bullies people over, right now the Ministry all thinks they’re doing the right thing, we’d have to start with something even they can’t deny.”

“Well the Ministry is full of idiots. I suppose we can’t very well say that to their faces, though.”

Draco barely contains his grin, “Probably not the best move when trying to win people over, no.”

Granger lets out a frustrated sigh, “Could we tell them the wound didn’t really come from Buckbeak?”

“No.” Pansy says at the same time Blaise spits “Over our dead bodies.”

Harry perks up with other people talking besides the two ‘nerds’, “Why not?”

“Because then they would want to know where the wound came from.”

Blood drains from four of their faces, but Weasley apparently really does lack all common sense.

“Where did it really come from? If it wasn’t from BuckBeak, why not tell them who it’s from?”

Pansy whirls on him, “Because I’d rather not see Draco _dead,_ thank you _very_ much!”

“Pans!” Blaise and Draco shout at the same time, which isn’t their smartest move because it only spurs the redhead on.

“Dead? What? You mean to tell me the prick is in some secret cult? Wouldn’t surprise me with his daddy’s past-”

“Ronald!” Granger warns right as Draco sees something snap in Pansy’s eyes. Her wand is out before any of them can react and poking right into a freckled throat.

“What your _mouth!”_

“Enough!” Harry bellows. 

It’s loud enough to make them all still, eyes moving from the wand to blazing green eyes.

“We aren’t here to act like children pulling pigtails! In case you all forgot, there is an _innocent life_ at stake! That is why we’re here. I won’t endanger a life to save another one. No one is fucking _dying_ this year, okay? I don’t care if I have to steal Buckbeak from right under Fudge’s nose!”

No one moves for an uncomfortably long time, so Draco takes it upon himself to break whatever trance they all got sucked into.

“I think that might be a last ditch option, Harry.”

Weasley sputters indignantly, “You’re on _first name biases_ with this sodding fuck?!”

“Ronald Weasley!” Granger snaps, “Get your head out of your ass! Need I remind you that Harry and I could have left you in the dorm tonight, and don’t think I won’t send your sorry attitude right back up there if you can’t show a little respect! Malfoy might have been a wanker in the past, but he has been on our side from the _very beginning!_ Parkinson and Zabini and here as his moral support just like you and Harry are here for me. Suck it up or leave!”

She’s red in the face when she finishes and Draco suddenly has a whole new level or respect for her. From the look on Blaise’s face and the way Pansy lowers her wand, his friends are feeling the same way.

“Thank you, Granger.” He tries desperately to ignore the smile on Harry’s face. “Could we get back to the task at hand now? There’s only a month and a half left, you know.”

\----------

They end up meeting during their free nights more often than not, although at some point, after they decide no one is going to kill anyone, Pansy, Blaise, and Weasley stop showing up for every brain storming session. 

It’s the next Tuesday when he finally notices something weird. Pansy is knee-deep in her portfolio final and Blaise is drowning in his extra projects, so they both squirm out of coming. Weasley is nowhere to be found in their new secret room, but Harry and Granger are both there. 

Well, Granger is there, and Harry is passed out and probably getting drool on the desk.

“This has to be the first time he’s slept in the past two weeks,” Hermione mumbles, rubbing her eyes and yawning a bit.

She’s the one who looks like she could use a good nap right now, and with finals right around the corner, they probably all could. Somehow, the bags under her eyes are just a bit darker than everyone else's.

Draco studies her for a second before he sighs, “Stop for a second, Granger. It’s past midnight and if we’re going to make any headway tonight we’ll need coffee.”

It’s a testament to how tired she is that she doesn’t bother arguing. 

“Dobby?” he calls out. It takes all of three seconds for the elf to appear with a big grin.

“Master Draco!” 

The yell is so loud it startles Harry back to the land of the living, and then right out of his seat when he sees the small grey figure.

“I assume you know Harry and Granger?”

Dobby grins at Harry, who manages a pathetic excuse for a wave, and then peers at the girl with her jaw on the floor.

“Who-”

“Ah, I guess it’s just Harry.” Draco interrupts her because he’s really too tired to explain House Elves when he _knows_ she probably understands them better than he cares to. “Dobby, meet Miss Hermione Granger. Hermione Granger, meet Dobby.”

“You’re-” Granger gasps, “You’re Dobby? The elf that gave Harry so much trouble last year?!”

“Technically that was Draco’s fault,” Harry yawns, moving closer to them so he can shake Dobby’s hand.

The elf is all business, “Master Draco was only tryin’ to help Mister Potter! Dobby had orders not let Mister Potter die is all! Dobby meant no harm!”

“And you didn’t cause any harm,” Draco reassures him. He sends a pointed glare at Harry before he can protest and do something awful like make his old friend feel bad. “But I didn’t ask for you so we could relive last year, I was just wondering if you’d be willing to do me a favor.”

Dobby’s ears perk up, “Anything for Master Draco!”

He’s far too tired to pretend like he isn’t smiling. “Would you mind bringing us some coffee?”

“Not at all, sir!”

A crack and the small creature is gone, leaving Hermione gaping and Harry still trying to open his eyes all the way. Before Granger can launch into whatever crazy tangent is brewing in that bushy hair of hers Dobby is back and placing three cups on their respective tables.

“Thank you Dobby, have a good night.”

He gets a grin back, “You be having a good night too Master Draco! Miss Granger! Mister Potter!”

They all wave ‘goodbye’ and throw their caffeine back like they’re alcoholics on free shot night at the Three Broomsticks. An hour later and Harry is asleep again, leaving him and Granger crossing off yet another idea from their master list. 

“Does he just not sleep?” Draco eventually snaps. In truth he’s just a little cranky because it’s a little rude to sleep when you’re supposed to be helping.

Hermione shrugs, “He’s been having more and more nightmares recently. He barely slept beforehand with all this Sirius Black bullocks, now with a living dead man, Dementors, and overthinking on top of his school work and Quidditch…..I think his brain just doesn’t let him anymore.”

“Has he tried a Sleeping Draught?” 

“Please,” Granger laughs, “If he’d take it I would’ve forced it on him ages ago. I’ve decided to take him one battle at a time. Right now we’re working on eating.”

Draco frowns, “Let me guess. Eating, sleeping, lying to his friends, sneaking around, nightmares, and then his inevitability to stay out of trouble.”

“You _do_ have a marvelous brain, don’t you?” Is the dry response. 

They go back to working in a comfortable silence, but there is a new heavy weight on Draco’s chest. On the plus side, now he knows for certain that he’s not the only one worried grey about the sleeping boy in front of them.

“How do you do it?” Granger asks after a while. “I mean, you and I are competing for top student, you’re doing extra Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, taking night watches to make sure Harry doesn’t get killed- and that’s impossible by itself- not to mention you’re having to keep all this hidden from your parents and you’ve still found time to help us try to save Buckbeak. I’m only taking twelve classes and-”

“You’re taking _twelve_ classes?! Merlin! No wonder you always look so dead inside!”

“Nonsense, Draco, that’s just a side effect of having a friend who’s always on some sort of suicide mission.”

Draco makes a noise somewhere between a choke and a laugh. “Draco, huh? You do realize Weasley is going to have a heart attack when he hears me calling you Hermione.”

She grins a little too evil-like and he decides that she needs more sleep than any of them.

“I dare you to. That would serve him right for acting like such a dick.”

“A curse word? From a calm, goody two-shoes like you?”

The glint in her eye is only a little crazed, “I haven’t been calm since I first laid my eyes on those two idiots. It’s a wonder my hair hasn’t gone grey yet.”

Draco decides then and there that Hermione Granger is one of the best Gryffindors to ever walk the Earth, even if it is because he can tell she also suffers from Potter Headaches at a frequent rate. He’d have to bring her some of his potions their next meeting. As a sign of their new friendship, of course, not because he secretly fears what she would be like if she did snap one of these days. 

\----------

Hermione’s snap comes two days before the final Quidditch match of the season, the one that determines who wins the cups. Finals are only three weeks away, and he’d honestly been expecting this since she came in their abandoned classroom raving like a howler about how pointless Divination is. As much as Draco and Pansy had agreed with her, it still scared the rest of their merry crew enough that Weasley didn’t even glare at them. Blaise had actually given Draco some Calming Draught to add to his Headache Potion the day after.

News of her walk out spread through the school like wildfire and if he wasn’t scared of her when he saw her study plan for finals, he definitely was now.

“I think it’s impressive.” Pansy informs them on the way back to the dorm.

“Darling, you think anything with two legs has the potential to be impressive.”

They both roll their eyes at Blaise, “You say that like you’re not terrified of her too.”

“I think it’s funny….when her rage isn’t directed at me, of course.”

Given the upcoming match, Draco, Harry, and Weasley hadn’t been able to attend their meetings as much, which left the other three in close quarters where they apparently got along just fine. In all honesty, between his studies and practices, Draco was so tired he didn’t give a rat’s ass about any of it.

And when Harry snatches the Snitch right of his hand, he can’t even bring himself to care about losing the cup because it means he can finally get some fucking sleep. The six of them agree not to meet the night of the final game. Draco takes a long, hot shower, puts on his most comfortable pajamas, locks his curtains, and sleeps until Blaise’s shouting wakes him up.

“Are you alive?! Pansy is three seconds away from cutting your curtains open!”

Somehow, during his sleep, he’d managed to swallow a wad of cotton. That or his mouth was insanely dry. Either way, he really doesn’t feel like having his bed curtains ruined so he rips them open to see Blaise’s stupid smiling face. He seriously considers hexing it off, but then his friend hands him a glass of water.

“You’ve been asleep since Saturday.”

Crabbe and Goyle peer over his shoulder, relief flooding through them.

“What day is it?” Merlin, he sounds like he’s been smoking for the past seven years.

Blaise, the bastard, ruffles his hair, “Monday, dearest. We all thought you died, and we would’ve let you sleep it off but Snape said that if you missed one more Potions class he’d personally skin you.”

Oh fuck…..”How long do I have?”

“Twenty minutes.”

Draco ignores his friends laughing at the panic on his face, swearing up and down that he loves Blaise with all his heart as the boy gets Draco’s things ready for the day so he can throw on some robes and make himself presentable. 

“Really, the love of my life, I would be lost without you. A shining star in my darkness, the keeper of my-”

“We get it, doll,” Blaise rolls his eyes but Draco takes delight in the flush on the taller boy’s cheeks, “I’m your moon and stars, just remember that when I don’t save you from Pansy’s wrath.”

Pansy and Hermione make a terrifying sight when they team up together. 

He’s not sure who grabs him and shoves him into the empty classroom on his way to dinner, but one moment he and Blaise are talking about dessert options and the next he’s in a room with two angry women, and angry Harry, and an annoyed Weasley. He can _feel_ Blaise thinking ‘I told you so’. 

“Will you _stop_ worrying me sick?!” Pansy throws her arms around his neck. That part isn’t all surprising, but Hermione grabbing his face so she can inspect his face is.

“Your eye bags are gone. Did you finally get some sleep? Pans and I have been going mental, I swear! You’re just as bad as Harry!”

He’s not sure who’s more offended, but Harry still knocks Hermione out of the way to glare at him.

“Where _have_ you been? You lose a Quidditch match and disappear? For _two days?!”_

“Oh you’re hardly one to talk. Didn’t you sneak out in a school wide lock-down to kill a thousand year old deadly beast last year?”

Draco really expects someone to come in between their glaring contest, but then, to his astonishment, Weasley snorts.

“He’s got you there, mate. I doubt Malfoy actually goes _looking_ for trouble.”

The rest of them don’t have any clue what to do because never in their wildest dreams did any of them ever expect _Weasley_ to say his name without deep hatred. Harry recovers first.

“I do _not_ go _looking_ for trouble! It comes looking for me!”

Hermione rolls her eyes, “I love you, Harry, but you really are like a magnet for bad fortune.”

“And life-threatening situations,” Draco adds. 

“Don’t forget stupid ideas.”

“Or bad decisions.”

Weasley grins at Harry’s protests. “Looks like you’re outnumbered, mate.”

“You’re supposed to be on _my_ side!” There’s no malice behind his words, and the smile really dampens the whining effect, but it makes Draco laugh. Blaise does a weak impression of it that has them all snickering and for a moment he can breathe easily. 

And then they walk out the door and finals week has started. 

If Draco thought the muggle witch was scary when she was angry, Finals Week Granger was down right nightmare material.

“Don’t fret,” Harry whispers to him during one of their meetings that have somehow started to double as group study sessions, “She’s always like this, although I think the extra classes are wearing her down faster than usual. Normally she’s not in this state until the last day, I’m honestly worried about her.”

There’s too much irony in that last statement for him not to laugh.

He does have to admit that he’s never felt more prepared for exams. Each of them have their own strengths, Harry leads them in Defense Against the Dark Arts, which isn’t surprising. Blaise takes Herbology as his specialty while Pansy breaks down and gives them all a lecture in Transfiguration. Weasley even makes some quips when they’re studying for Care of Magical Creatures, and since he’s playing nice, Draco assists everyone in Charms. When Hermione isn’t having a breakdown, she gives them History of Magic lessons. They’re all too afraid of what will happen if they don’t pay attention to fall asleep. Amazing how effective fear tactics can be. 

Draco does overhear her mumbling about classes he knows are at the same time and briefly wonders how she does it, but given her current state he’s a little too cowardly to ask. 

Day by day, test after test, and he’s finally done. Sure, it’s a little hard not to stare on the last day when Hermione breaks down crying after her DADA exam, but he’s also fairly sure he’s hallucinating seventy-five percent of life, so who’s to say it’s not just a weird lucid dream.

It all passes so quickly they nearly forget about Buckbeak until Draco, along with Crabbe and Goyle, round a corner and see Harry talking to Minster Fudge. Given how pale his scarred friend looks, Draco doesn’t think they’re discussing the weather. He feels sick.

“So they really are going to kill it, then?” Goyle asks.

Draco nods, and to his surprise they each pat him on the back. “Do you want us to go with you?”

After a few seconds it hits him. They knew he would be near when BuckBeak was put down. He’d been ranting and raving about it to _all_ of his friends, and when he wasn’t making sure they were studying, they had been getting an earful too. Before he knows what he’s doing Draco’s nodding and they make their way to the hillside. 

The two share a knowing look, and Crabbe rests his hand on Draco’s shoulder. 

“I know it sucks, Draco, but you couldn’t control it.”

“His death isn’t your fault.” Goyle reminds him.

For a second he’s distracted enough to remember that Goyle actually cares about magical creatures. He had been thrilled to take the class, and Crabbe, while he didn’t _love_ it, he was sensitive to Draco’s feelings.

They stand beside him, just far enough so they can make out the shapes down at Hagrid’s huts. Draco makes a mental note to spend more time with them, he’s sure it will fit into his schedule.

He’s thankful when they link arms with him and turn them away, even if he does feel guilt clawing up his throat when he hears crows flying away after the ax swings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're almost at the end, and then the next fic is where i'm mostly going off rails because Fleur deserves to be more than a pretty face


	12. The Longest Day Ever part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’ll have you know the Malfoys are born without hearts.”
> 
> “Ah yes, I suppose it’s kinda like the blonde hair and stupid grins?”

Crabbe and Goyle, after making him promise he’s fine, leave him to sit by the giant stones and think over how epicly he failed. He’d sworn to BuckBeak that he wouldn’t die.

Draco had given the Malfoy word that no innocent blood would be spilled.

And yet…

Failure found him. Just like in first and second year when he tried to protect Harry. Or when he tried to hide his growing issues from his friends. Would he always fail when it was important? Days would come where failure would not be an option, and he had thought this was one of them…..Draco had been wrong. 

It would always be an option, but next time he would have to make sure it wasn’t the one he chose. 

He’s not sure how long he’s out there before he hears footsteps and a hand is placed on his shoulder. 

“So...he’s…”

For some weird reason, Draco’s throat can’t dignify Harry with an answer. Personally he thinks the sob Hermione muffles against Weasley’s chest is more than enough. 

There’s shuffling beside him and then Harry is sitting down, arm awkwardly around his shoulders in a side hug and for more reasons Draco can’t fathom, he leans into the touch and maybe it isn’t awkward at all. Maybe it’s very grounding and pleasant and just what he needs at the moment. 

Not that it lasts for long.

Weasley gasps behind him, and then he says probably the strangest thing a person can say when four friends are mourning the loss of something pure.

“Scabbers?”

Call him mentally fucked, but Draco’s had a very long week and he can’t stop the near manic laughter that spills out of his mouth. “Who the fuck is Scabbers?”

Scabbers, apparently, is a Weasley’s pet rat, who has decided now would be a great time to try and escape from the red-headed horrors he’s been subjected to for however long rats live. Draco thinks nothing of it, it’s a _rat_ for Merlin’s sakes.

Weasley has other ideas.

He tears after the creature, shouting his name while Harry scrambles to his feet to follow Hermione who’s running after her mangled little lion and since all his friends are doing it, Draco thinks _what the hell_ and sprints after them. 

Nearly a mile later and he’s realizing he probably shouldn’t turn his brain off the second finals end. Proof of his theory lies in the fact that he doesn’t even realize where he’s at until after Weasley has thrown himself on the ground to catch his vermin. Draco really doesn’t even notice until Hermione starts to back up and says “Um, Ron-”

And then, as if this afternoon hadn’t already been weird as hell, the boys all slowly look up to see two very alarming things.

One, they chased a _rat_ to the Whomping Willow.

Two, there’s a giant black dog growling right at Weasley.

In all fairness, Draco doesn’t see dogs as threats because his father used to have two and he’s about to start talking Weasley through getting away from an angry mut when said animal bites down on the boy’s ankle and starts dragging him even closer towards the tree.

Studying for exams didn’t teach him what the fuck he was supposed to do when his friend gets dragged down into a notoriously dangerous artifact of nature, much less how to stop a tree from trying to kill him and his other two friends. 

Everything’s a bit of a blur from there, Draco really can’t remember most of it and he starts to think that maybe he’s reached his threshold for shit he can go through before his mind snaps again. All he knows is one second he’s throwing a protection charm at Harry while clinging to a vicious branch that seems hell-bent on tossing him off the face of the Earth, and the next second he’s going down the same rabbit hole he watched Weasley be dragged off to. Harry lands on him seconds before he can yelp. Hermione tumbles in moments after they’ve stood up and once he’s repaired Harry’s glasses, he swears he going to charm them to never break again, they all look at each other and silently agree that today can’t possibly get any stranger, so why _not_ follow the path that’s supposedly been under the Murder Tree this whole time. 

The fates must really have a grudge against him. 

Draco, on pure instinct, has his wand out and aimed. Not that being armed lessens the shock value of seeing Sirius Black, in the flesh, with his wand pointed at an injured Weasley. He knows it’s a dumb move, but it doesn’t stop him from threatening. 

“Back. Away. Slowly.” 

Apparently all those torture sessions with his father had taught him the crucial tactic of remaining in control during a crisis. On the plus side, he does have most of the Informed Potter Protection Squad with him. Weasley’s pretty useless, but Hermione keeps Harry behind him, so at least they have that going for them. Draco walks them in a tight formation, arm outstretched to help keep dear old Scar Face _away_ from the possible killer. He doesn’t stop moving until their little group is in front of the sniffling idiot with a hurt ankle. 

“Lower your wand.” He commands. 

Black laughs in his face, so he quickly disarms him and _takes_ the stupid thing. And then there’s a pretty tense moment where Draco’s a hundred percent sure he’s going to die, right before Lupin bursts into the room with LuLu hot on his heels. 

Furthering the belief that this entire day has been one really weird nightmare, Lupin doesn’t even look at them. He goes right to Black and pulls him into a _very_ tight hug, running a hand through the other’s hair and kissing his forehead for the hell of it. They obviously forget their audience. 

“You moron. I’ll kill Dumbledore for doing this to you,” They hear Lupin whisper and ya know, Draco’s not all _that_ opposed to the idea. 

“Don’t worry, love,” Black’s breathless laugh turns some weird type of chord in him, “I don’t think our friends will disagree with you.” 

“Excuse me!” Granger calls out. Oh yeah. They don’t know. “What the hell is going on?! I _trusted_ you! And here you are with a _murderer!”_ ”

Draco locks eyes with his professor. Neither of them move for a very long time, but he does lower his wand. He vaguely hears Hermione whispering healing charms, a shaking hand he assumes is Harry’s tangles in the back of his robes but he watches LuLu. 

His loyal Kneazle. Rubbing against Black’s legs. 

“I guess you aren’t the ever ravenous murderer then, are you cousin?” 

“Cousin?!”

Sirius laughs over them. “I knew you looked a little too familiar. I’d love to do introductions, but I rather need to kill your friend’s rat.”

“Kill Scabbers?! Why the fuck would you kill Scabbers?!”

“Language Mister Weasley!” Lupin chides, nodding his head as Draco carefully pulls Harry out of the way. Old reliable Scar Head is gawking between him and his relative like they’ve grown extra heads, or mutated into something curious. 

For the first time since he’s met her Hermione looks confused. She has Weasley’s head in her lap- something about that is significant he’s sure- and her wand still clutched in her right hand, eyebrows furrowed as she watches LuLu. 

“Will someone _please_ explain what the hell is going on?” 

Draco exchanges a small nod with the two adults and gently shrugs off Harry’s hand. He walks over to the redhead as calmly as he can. 

“Do you trust me?” 

Weasley’s eyes are wide. They shift from him to a spot behind him, probably Harry, and after a few moments he swallows rather dramatically and nods. 

“Give me Scabbers. I promise not to hurt your rat, but you’re going to have to trust me.” 

The boy acts as though he’s handing over his first born son, but he does hold the squirming rat out and Draco takes it. A ’Petrificus Totalus ’later and it stops moving so he places it on the floor and takes a wide step back. 

“I do believe you two know the story better, I only know what Dumbledore tells me, which isn’t much.”

Black snorts, “Never is, that cryptic old ass.”

Lupin hits him on the chest for that one, taking a deep breath. “Sirius didn’t betray your parents, Harry-“

“James was my best mate! And Lily like my sister I tell you-“

“If he didn’t kill my parents then-“

“Really! Scabbers is just a rat-!” 

“This still isn’t making any-“

“Well the asshole who did it-“

They keep talking over each other and Draco’s head is starting to flare up so he rolls his eyes and yells “Oh for _Merlin’s sake! Omis Revelio!_ ” 

Running mouths stop making actual noise, but they all remain wide and unbelieving as Scabbers starts to grow bigger and bigger, human flesh ripping open dingy fur, the one thing that doesn’t change is his stillness, though Draco has to admit he preferred the man’s rat form.

Sirius dissolves into laughter. Lupin blinks. 

“Well, everyone, meet Peter Pettigrew,” his cousin manages to choke out, “He’s gonna be my first kill-“

His wand is out and pointing, Hermione screams, Lupin tries to hold him back and then, because the scene isn’t enough as is, Snape bursts into the room. _“Expelliarmus!”_

Well, if he didn’t think Sirius was a homicidal maniac before, he certainly looks the part now, struggling against Lupin’s hold with more murderous intent than a Basilisk. 

“You- _Sniffles?!_ Give me my wand! Let me go! I deserve to kill him! HE KILLED THE POTTERS!” 

“And let you commit a murder in front of four children? I think not.” Draco could hear the anger in his voice, he was in for it.

‘It’ probably very bad and painful if Snape's expression is anything to go off of.

“What in _Merlin’s Beard_ do you think you’re doing here? Have you any self preservation?! And you-” he turns those fearful eyes on Lupin, “I’ve just made my peace with you and now you’re endangering _children_ and running around with a convict-”

“I can explain-”

“Remus! Don’t let that whiny bastard-”

“ _Watch your mouth when you’re speaking of my godfather”_ Draco snaps. The room looks to him and since he has their attention he might as well use it to make sense of the damned mess. “You still haven’t explained what the hell is going on, nor why Peter Pettigrew is in the room when he is supposed to be dead!”

“He _is_ dead,” Snape scoffs, and then he sees the body squirming on the floor and takes a large step back, “What the-”

“Explanation. Now.” The voice that comes from beside him is strained but Potter always gets the job down. Today is no different. Draco’s learned that Harry’s pretty easy going, but he doesn’t fuck around with his parents. Who could blame him? Especially the adults in the room.

Lupin clears his throat. “Well...I assume you all have my...condition...figured out.”

“Condition?” Weasley inquires, still staring at Pettigrew like he’s a stain on the floor. Not far from the truth.

“He’s a werewolf,” Draco sighs, then adds “Idiot” so Harry can’t accuse him of being nice later.

“A were-”

Hermione looks like she’s going to strangle someone if she doesn’t get answers soon. “Yes, Ron! Catch up will you? Haven’t you noticed that he goes missing every full moon week? Or that his boggart is a full moon? I would’ve thought Professor Snape’s werewolf lesson would’ve clued you in if nothing else!”

Weasley shrinks away from her but Snape looks mildly impressed. Lupin runs a hand through his hair. “Right...well, it’s vital information to the story. My….issue...almost kept me from coming to Hogwarts. I was bitten as a boy and everyone knows how dangerous wolves can be. When you transform...you don’t have control, you wouldn’t be able to tell your best friend from your meal, so I was denied school for the longest time until Dumbledore became headmaster. He built this place for me, a little home to hide out my transformations in.”

Sirius snorts beside him, “Thought he was being clever about it too, like James and I wouldn’t notice his mood swings, or him disappearing in the middle of the night. One time he tried to tell us his mother was sick the week after Christmas break like we hadn’t just seen her!”

“We _were_ being clever,” Lupin replies, but the tension in his forehead has relaxed a bit, “Until you nosey lot decided to follow me. They waited until Madam Pomfrey left before they came in, and once they knew well….they decided to be good friends. It was your father’s idea, Harry.”

“A stupid idea,” Sirius smirks, but somehow Draco feels like Harry only cares about his father.

Lupin spares a glance at an angry Snape, wincing a bit before saying, “They decided to become animagi, so I wouldn’t have to spend the moons by myself.”

He stops there, as if he knew Snape would blow up. “I _knew it!_ I knew you no good, wretched, self glorifying-”

Sirius is across the room before Draco can blink. Fist in Snape’s robes, hand rearing back to strike. Not a thought crosses his mind before he’s freezing the man in place and throwing him back.

“I thought I told you to watch yourself around my god father. As far as I’m concerned, you’re still guilty and adding another murder to the list _can’t_ be good for your time in Azkaban…”

There’s probably some fucked up reason that making a grown man shiver in terror gives him joy, but he can focus on it later when he doesn’t have to sneer at Snape, “Can you please act like an adult instead of a first year with his panties in a twist?”

Lupin clears his throat so the room will give him it’s attention. He doesn’t take his eyes off of Draco’s wand still pointing at Sirius. “We didn’t do anything too dangerous, it’s just that being with them made it easier for me to keep my peace of mind. James and Sirius somehow dragged Peter into the mix and none of us really cared about the precautions we should’ve taken. They couldn’t register with the ministry without telling Dumbledore that all four of us were breaking rules that ground for expulsion, so we never told anyone...I honestly thought what everyone else thought” his eyes shift to Sirius, “Sorry, Paddy.”

Sirius smiles gently and Draco almost drops his wand. No one with a smile like that could be a cold blooded murderer. “ ‘s okay.”

“You see,” Lupin continues before Hermione can go completely purple in the face, “I was completely convinced this man in front of you was a killer and betrayed our friends, until one night Dumbledore took me aside and told me that some truths are harder to find than others-”

“-Cryptic old ass-” Sirius mutters.

Draco snorts.

 _“Then,”_ Lupin shoots them both a glare, “Tonight. I was in my office, looking over the Marauder's Map-”

“You know how to use the map?!”

Draco had been wondering how long it would be until Hermione asked something, he’s honestly surprised she didn’t raise her hand first.

“We built the bloody thing! Took ages too-”

Lupin rolls his eyes at his friend’s remark. “That is besides the point, don’t give me that look Severus, you know damn well how useful it is. The map is the only reason I knew where Harry and his friends were, that Ron had been taken by Sirius, and that Pettigrew was still fucking alive! If it weren’t for that map no one knows what would’ve happened, but they certainly wouldn’t have been safe!”

“Safe from Black or from Pettigrew?” Snape asks.

No one gives him an answer and that’s precisely the reason Draco still has his wand at the ready. He uses it to gesture at Black, “You haven’t told us your story yet. How _does_ one escape Azkaban?”

Sirius gives him a dark look, but sighs all the same. “Well, everyone knows that Dementors feed on happiness. Normal prisoners are guilty maniacs, sure, but they all enter with happy memories of loved ones or family. I had my family ripped from me by my own stupid actions and the guilt was worse than any soul-sucker. They knew I was miserable, and since I didn’t have that much happiness they didn’t bother much with me. If they did it only took a few minutes before they got bored, and sometimes I would transform into a dog just to avoid them. Funny thing is, they can’t really read the emotions of a dog and thinking about James and Lily in that headspace was enough to remind me _why_ I was there in the first place. Mind you, that almost drove me mad in itself, and then Fudge came for a visit when he threw that idiot Lockheart in jail. He had a newspaper with him and well…..”

The man looks over at Harry and softens. “I couldn’t take my eyes off you at first. You look so much like James….I nearly cried until I saw the kid next to you. I’ve seen Peter’s rat form so many times I knew it was him even in black and white. At first I thought I was dreaming, but he was missing a toe and I just knew that little bastard was up to no good, probably waiting for Voldemort-” Draco flinches at the name- “to rise again so he could hand you over and finish what he started all those years ago. I couldn’t let that happen so one night, when they came with food, I transformed and was skinny enough to sneak through the bars. Then I swam away from that bloody island and came here to try and keep that fucker from getting too close. I almost convinced this Crookshanks fellow to help me, but he was worried about upsetting his owner.”

With the look on Hermione’s face, there was no way she knew. LuLu looks up at Draco like _she_ would’ve helped without question. He quickly picks her up so she won’t get close to their prisoner.

“Okay...so we have two sides of the story that match up…” Draco mumbles, “Now it’s time for his.”

“Draco I don’t think that’s a good idea-”

“Can’t I at least stun him-”

“That’s stupid-”

Draco rolls his eyes, keeping LuLu on his hip and releasing Pettigrew with his free hand. 

“R-Remus! S-S-Sirius!” Merlin, even the man’s voice sounds like a rat. “My friends!”

Black all but kicks him across the room, “Get off me!”

Pettigrew apparently doesn’t care about his well being, because he turns to Snape and Draco, “S-Severus! How delightful to see you well! And you….you must be Malfoy’s s-s-son!”

Draco points his wand right into the idiot’s eye. He doesn’t like the way LuLu hisses and tries to claw the man’s face. If he lowered her just one inch she could have her will and with the way Pettigrew keeps looking at Harry, he might ‘accidentally’ lose his grip. 

“Do not think you have safety in us,” Snape spits before Draco can maim someone. 

Instead he makes a face that sends a shiver of fear down Pettigrew’s spine. “If you try and touch me again I’ll make sure it’s your hands that go this time, not just a finger. You’re only moving to tell us the truth. Should you be stupid enough to lie or continue this pathetic sniffling I’ll shut you up and let the Dementors deal with you.”

Harry looks at him with wide eyes, there’s fear in them, but also a weird amount of respect.

Pettigrew doesn’t move, just sits in the filth with tears streaming down his face. He makes the mistake of looking at Harry with his full attention and Draco almost smirks when Sirius’s fist collides with rat-teeth.

“Don’t. You. _Dare”_

Lupin’s right after him, “Wasn’t killing your friends enough?!”

“I didn’t mean for them to die!” Pettigrew wails, “But the Dark Lord-”

“You’d rather follow Voldemort than stay loyal to your friends?! Your _family?!”_

“He would’ve killed me! My life is worth more than-”

“Your life is worth nothing.” Potter spits and Draco almost drops LuLu then and there. The boy has his wand out and pointed down the bridge of Pettigrew’s nose. He’s never seen so much hatred in those green eyes.

“Harry-” Lupin starts, but Harry isn’t hearing it.

“You’re gonna kill him anyways, right? He took my parents away from me. Why shouldn’t I do it?” 

The voice isn’t supposed to sound like that. Draco doesn’t like it when Harry sounds like him, he should never have that much darkness in him. Harry isn’t someone who could kill. Harry smiles when he eats chocolate frogs even though he’s awful at catching them. Harry likes sugar in his tea. Harry likes sleeping by fires and stealing people’s blankets during study sessions. Harry is the type of person to forgive and forgive until it bites him in the ass. 

Harry isn’t the type of person to have the beginnings of an Unforgivable on his tongue. 

Draco reaches out for his wrist before he can think better of it. His action shocks them both, but Draco doesn’t let go. He can’t. Instead he forces Harry’s hand down and steps into his space. Glares haven’t fazed him since he was ten years old, and even though he had never seen so much hatred, he’s not going to sit by and let some spineless wimp take the light from his friend’s eyes.

“Let me go.” 

“No.”

“Draco, he murdered my parents-”

“And if you kill him then you’re no better.”

Everyone holds their breath to watch their little exchange, so Draco decides to make his intentions _very_ clear. “You’re not a murderer, Harry. You’re smart and you know death would be an easy way out for this coward. A lifetime in Azkaban and a mouth to declare your godfather’s innocence is much more valuable than a dead body.”

He refuses to look away from the searching green eyes. Fury fades out of them leaving them tired, Harry actually slouches into his touch, he must be exhausted. Neither of them pay attention to Pettigrew begging behind them. 

“Yeah…”Harry sighs, “Yeah, okay...but only because I don’t think my dad would want his friends to kill each other.”

Pettigrew wails with delight, “T-t-thank you! You kind, kind boy-”

Harry mimics the icy look Draco had given not even ten minutes ago. “Don’t forget to thank me when you face the Dementors.”

He’s too impressed by his friend to care about the color draining from the prisoner’s face. 

The group around them starts to gather their things, wands are collected and Sirius is forced to swear something about not hurting anyone to Severus who also curses Lupin up and down and threatens to have him removed from the grounds. Hermione steps in to point out that Weasley is still hurt and it’s almost lost over Pettigrew’s screams for mercy. 

“Are you okay?” Draco asks quietly. Harry nods back.

“It’s been a very long day. This morning feels like it was years ago.”

“Yeah I’ve heard emotions are draining like that.”

Harry shoots him a look, but his smile is starting to return. “Act all you like, I know you have a big heart under all those scary gazes.”

“I’ll have you know the Malfoys are born without hearts.”

“Ah yes, I suppose it’s kinda like the blonde hair and stupid grins?”

He does not grin. He absolutely does not. “Exactly.”

Harry snorts at him, “For a person with no heart, you’re rather warm.”

Oh fuck. His hand is still on Harry’s arm. 

Oh fuck, he just conspired with Harry in front of one of Voldemort’s followers.

Oh fuck he was just standing there with a stupid look on his face while other people _watched._

Weasley was never gonna let him live this down. 

Draco quickly removes his hand and turns to face the group right as Lupin stumbles away from them.

“Professor?”

Snape’s eyes widen, Sirius lunges forward but it’s too late. 

Lupin tries to get away, stumbling into walls and odd bits of furniture. “Leave,” He begs, “ _Now._ ”

Most of them couldn’t move even if they wanted to, all paralyzed with fear because fur is starting to spout on Lupin’s back, but Draco’s pretty sure he isn’t doing this willingly. No one screams in pain when they’re willing. Harry tries to step around him and move towards the changing beast, but Draco can’t let him. He fights the boy back, somehow ending up the closest to the werewolf he can’t see standing behind him.

Someone screams, Draco has time to look from Harry’s terrified face to Snape’s look of pure horror and then something slashes at his back and he’s falling forward into Harry’s outstretched arms. 

“You idiot!”

Draco smiles at him, there’s snarling behind them but Sirius isn’t in his line of sight so hopefully he’s the reason they all haven’t turned into mince meat. “You need to get out of here.” He manages.

Snape curses from his left, Hermione gasps, “He’s going to kill Sirius if we don’t stop him!”

Harry’s head snaps up at that and Draco grips him as hard as he can manage. “Don’t!” Merlin his voice sounds awful. Why is the room starting to spin? His back feels like a bitch…

“Harry!” the boy looks back at him and he can’t decide which possibility he likes less. Harry is either going to whisk him away to the hospital wing in front of the entire school or run after his godfather and get himself killed. 

“You’re gonna have my head for this later,” Harry whispers, thrusting him onto someone else, “He needs help!”

“No!” Draco snatches his arm, “You can’t die!”

Harry smiles at him so gently it makes him loosen his grip, “I won’t. I’ll see you later, promise.”

“No!” he struggles against his captor, “No! Let me go! He has to live!” 

Snape’s hand comes into view, Hermione must be holding him down then. Pettigrew is no where to be seen. “Draco. Calm yourself or you’ll upset your wounds. Sirius will not let him get hurt, and I have three injured students and a real criminal on the loose. Lupin took his potions tonight, he will not kill even if his wolf wants him to. _Potter is safe,_ but you _will die_ if we don’t treat you soon.”

Draco lets the implications sink in, and then he feels a little more light headed than normal.

His last thought before everything goes black is a vivid image of Pansy and Blaise cussing him out. Who knew he could predict the future? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure the next chapter will be the final one but I want to write the first chapter of the next fic in the series so you guys don't get disinterested also I will say the beginning of the next fic is not something you;ll see coming lol


	13. Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You two down for a little sabotage?”

Draco’s first thought when he wakes up is that whoever’s playing with his hair is getting the best Christmas present ever. Like he’s willing to spend at least his entire trust fund on whoever it is because it feels like Merlin himself has blessed their fingers. It’s calming and soothing and almost lulls him right back to sleep, but then his ears start working.

“Harry you have to calm down, we’ll think of something.”

Oh fuck.

Harry. Sirius Black. The shack. Whomping Willow. Weasley’s leg. Peter Pettigrew. The _werewolf._

_Fucking hell!_

Draco sits up and throws open his eyes only to see a lot of weird blurs and fall back within three seconds. A few blinks later and Pansy’s furious face comes into view. The hand playing with his hair is gone. Just like his friend’s patience.

“You have a lot of nerve, Draco Malfoy, you know that? We contracted you to us so we _wouldn’t have to do this shit_ anymore and then you go and get _mauled_ by a _fucking werewolf_ in some _weird ass hideout_ that you could’ve _died_ getting to! Give me one reason that I shouldn’t-”

“Pans.” 

He’s never been happier to hear Blaise’s voice in his whole life. 

Pansy backs off a little, even helps him sit up so Blaise can engulf him in a bone crushing hug. “You had blood dripping down the hallways when you came in. Gave us quite the heart attack, Pans nearly passed out, we didn’t know what happened. One second we were running around with our wrists burning and then you were in Snape’s arms, passed out and…”

“I’m sorry,” Draco whispers in his ear. His head feels so nice on Blaise’s warm shoulder, it feels good to grip onto something solid. Blaise rubs gently down his back and it somehow doesn’t hurt as much as he thought it would. Everything is just warm here, and when Pansy joins their little hug fest it feels like home. 

And then someone clears their throat and his friends pull away. 

Blaise stays close enough for Draco to lean against his shoulder. Pansy absolutely refuses to release her death grip on his hand. He thanks them a million times over for the support when he finally looks to the bed next to his where Wealsey is lying. Hermione sits beside him, eyes bloodshot and clearly worried, Harry stands with his eyes narrowed at Draco. He racks his head for a reason why his friend would be glaring. All he’s doing is stealing comfort from Blaise, or did he say something weird while he was sleeping? Oh, Merlin, what did he do? And for that matter what happened between-

“They’ve arrested Sirius,” Hermione informs him quietly, “Pettigrew escaped, they found Harry and Sirius by the lake, and they locked him up in the Astronomy tower before bringing Harry here…..” She hiccups, “They’re going to….he’s…”

“The death penalty.” Harry says with a worrying lack of emotion. “Sirius is going to die.”

“But he’s innocent!” Draco protests, “He hasn’t-”

“Well they don’t care, do they? We haven’t got any proof!”

“We could use a pensive-”

“They turned that down already!” Harry growls, moving from Ron’s bed to pace, “We talked to Dumbledore and not even _he_ could do anything!”

Draco starts to make a comment about that not being particularly surprising, but then Dumbledore walks through the door and he has to bite his tongue. He learned a few months ago how much fun pissing off a powerful wizard is, and once is honestly more than enough.

“Sir!” Blaise greets him, “Did you talk them out of it?”

Dumbledore raises an eyebrow, “I have no clue what you’re talking about, Mister Zabini.”

If he wasn’t so weak he’d punch the glasses off the old man’s nose.

“Time...is such a fickle thing, wouldn’t you agree Miss Granger?”

Hermione’s eyebrows furrow. Draco wants to ask him what the hell he’s on about, but then he catches a glimpse of Aurors out of the corner of his eye. _Fuck_.

“Strange how time could be the only thing to save innocent lives….alas we cannot turn back time, can we?”

Hermione’s eyes widen at Dumbledore’s retreating back so at least one of them understood his bullshit.

“I came by to see if Mister Malfoy was okay, our guests have been quite concerned with the injured students, but I assume I can assure them that everything is safe?”

Draco nods. He would speak, but if he opens his mouth he would definitely let something rude slip, and the Aurors didn’t need to think the students at Hogwarts thought their headmaster was full of shit. Not when they were planning to free a convicted man before the end of the night. 

“Very well. I’ll have to inform them _thrice,_ but three is a lucky number, wouldn’t you say? Good night, children, do make sure to stay safe inside the hospital wing…”

Dumbledore leaves them, Hermione makes to talk but Draco shakes his head. Five minutes later he nods. “What the hell was that piece of shit code.”

“Listen, don’t be mad, okay? But I know how we’re going to save Sirius.” 

“What? Gonna ‘turn back time’ or some weird shit like that?”

Hermione fucking nods, taking a small necklace from her pocket that almost has Draco falling off the bed. “A time-turner?! Is _that_ how you’ve been making all your classes?!”

“Yes, and now I’m going to use it and save Sirius.”

“And…” Blaise shakes his head, but he’s smiling, “That Buckbeak creature Draco’s been on about all week. Dumbledore did say ‘lives’ right?”

Pansy sighs, “I wonder if he thought he was being cryptic by mention three so many times…”

Hermione laughs a bit, standing and looking around at them. “I can’t go alone, Ron can’t walk, and Draco is too injured to do much…”

“I’ll go with you.” Harry offers.

“You bloody hell will not!” Draco meets Harry’s glare with one of his own. “You’ve already almost died once tonight, and I can’t imagine you know any of the rules that come with time traveling-”

“Hermione knows them! She won’t let me get hurt-”

“It’s too dangerous! You’ll do something stupid-”

“I’m not the one with claw marks on their back-”

“I did that so you wouldn’t get hurt you giant fuck face! When will you get it through your thick skull that _you cannot die!”_

“And you can?” 

Draco freezes, he can feel Pansy and Blaise stiffen on either side of him but Harry isn’t done.

“You throw yourself in the way of danger at any given chance! You’re had more close calls than anyone else in this room, and as far as I’m concerned it’s not your job to save someone just because their parents died! Do you not understand that people would miss you if you died? That seeing you hurt makes them upset? Do you care about anyone? Or is keeping your friends in a constant state of panic a Malfoy thing too?”

Draco’s face goes stone cold. “Watch your mouth, Potter. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“And you don’t have the right to paint me as some incapable git! _I_ defeated Voldemort again in first year. _I_ killed the Basilisk _and_ defeated Riddle last year. Saving the only family I’ve got left will be easy, especially if I have my friends working with me instead of implying that I’m too incompetent to not die.”

He wants to protest, but he can’t do that without admitting that his life _is_ worthless, and if he does that Pansy and Blaise will never let him out of their sight again, there’s no telling what Hermione would do, not to mention the look he’d get from Weasley. But time travel is such a delicate thing, if even one toe is out of line Harry could lose his mind. Hermione was one thing because she’s done it before, but test running Harry’s ability on limited time and a stressed mind can’t end well. He tries to ignore how saving Buckbeak will feel like Harry’s cleaning up after his mess, but that only urges the thoughts on stronger. 

At some point during his mental battle he’s stood up and made his way to the other boy. His mouth moves before he can tell his brain to stop. “You have to follow what Hermione says, even if she tells you to stop breathing. You cannot be seen, you have to be punctual, you can’t get hurt, you can’t let your emotions get the better of you and-”

Harry grips his hands that have somehow ended up on the boy’s shoulders, “I’ll be back, promise.”

Draco has a vivid flashback of writing that down on paper and running off with Snape this time last year. A smile graces his lips, and since Harry’s already kept one promise, what’s the harm in another? “You two go. _Be careful._ You have to be at the Astronomy Tower as soon as possible, I’ll find a way to take care of things here.”

Hermione nods, standing up and throwing the necklace over her and Harry.

“What do you mean take care of-”

“Don’t worry about it, Harry.”

Harry seems _very_ worried about it, “Draco-don’t do anything stupid-”

They vanish right as the clock strokes eleven, leaving Draco to turn and face his still pretty pissed off best friends, “You two down for a little sabotage?”

\----------

Pansy and Blaise are always down to sabotage, and with Draco’s brilliance their plan can’t fail. The two of them will keep the meeting between Dumbledore and Aurors going until Sirius can escape, and Draco will watch over him to make sure no one gets excited and tries to kill him just for the hell of it. Ron had protested to no ends about not being able to do anything but-

“Sorry, Weasley, I’d give you a part but you can’t even walk, can you?”

If nothing else, angering his favorite red-head would be a perk of tonight. 

Only, he didn’t think through how awkward it would be to enter the Astronomy tower and see his cousin tied up to the wall. Merlin, how _that_ took him back to unpleasant times.

“Come to take a look at the criminal?” Sirius asks.

“Merlin, no. I’m on watch duty until Harry can save you.”

He was definitely adding ‘Sirius Shocked Face’ to his list of favorite things. 

“S-Save me?! Does he have any idea how dangerous that is?!”

“Listen, I tried to warn him but it just made him pissy. He’s fought off a Basilisk, how hard can helping you escape be?”

Draco grabs his wand and frees the man from his chains but Sirius doesn’t move.

“A Basilisk? What the hell has that boy been getting up to? James would kill him….”

“Please,” Draco laughs, “That’s not even the worst of it.”

“Do I want to know?”

“I’m gonna tell you regardless, we need something to kill the time, but I do recommend taking a seat.”

Sirius’s eyebrows disappear into the mop he calls hair, “Merlin help me…”

A moment of shuffling later and Draco finds himself recounting all of Harry Potter’s stories through out the years and agreeing rather aggressively with every ‘what the fuck’ that comes out of his cousin’s mouth. 

“You’d think being beat by a child once would be enough.”

“That’s what _I_ said!”

Second year proves to be a lot for the man to handle, though he does laugh when Draco tells him about the Valentine's bullshit Lockhart pulled. They agree Azkaban is a lovely home for him. After assuring him that yes, Potter did beat Voldemort a third time, Sirius is practically glowing which leads Draco into the current year of bullshit, where instead of old Lizard Face he was facing a killer.

“I was thinking he deserved a break, but this isn’t quite what I meant.”

Sirius chuckles, “At least he has you looking after him. Would you tell me that story as well? I know Narcissa would never allow her child to put himself in harm’s way. Did you make a deal with Lucius?”

Well color him surprised and serve him up for dinner, “My mother...she doesn't know. Neither does father, of course, he’s gone a bit off the deep end.”

“He’s always been off the deep end. No offense to you and yours but I always thought your mother could do better. At least before the Dark Lord he wasn’t all that bad, but after…” 

Draco sighs, and then Sirius asks him the worst possible thing he could.

“Will you tell me your story? Or are you going to let me believe Sissy isn’t as sharp as she used to be.”

It’s for his mother’s honor that he tells Sirius his part in the whole mess. For her and her alone he doesn’t spare a single detail, even when Sirius gets the murder crazed look on his face agian, even when tears threaten to spill, he keeps going. For his mother. Not because talking about it is extremely therapeutic. 

“He wasn’t always awful...I honestly don’t understand how he turned into the man he is now...I have all these memories of him just being ‘dad’ not Lucius Malfoy the Death Eater. He was kind, loving, and did everything he could to make me happy…”

Sirius pats him on the shoulder, “I’d kill him if it wouldn’t land me in Azkaban.”

“Please don’t! You know Harry would sneak off to save you the second I turned my back.”

“You’ve kept him alive this long, I’m sure you’ll manage. I’m concerned for both of you really, you know both of your parents did everything they could to make your lives better than theirs….”

Draco raises an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“Well, since you’ve given me some back stories, let me return the favor.”

He shuffles into a more comfortable position before he begins, “I was born into the Black house and almost instantly they hated me. Mother, Walberga, hated everything from my eyes to my laugh which I inherited from my father. Regulus, my brother, looked a bit more like her so she naturally liked him better. We all practiced the dark arts, I remember Bella and Sissy used to make jokes about it whenever Regulus and I were annoyed. The four of us were thick as thieves when we were children, running around our manors and getting into all kinds of trouble. For a very short time we were happy. And then Voldemort came into power. He promised shit like ‘blood purity’ returning to the wizarding world, and Mother bought every cent of it. She joined first, and would’ve forced father if he didn’t fall sick right before my first year at Hogwarts. The four of us kids still met, of course, but we were afraid. Bella hated the idea of bowing to man, and then her marriage arrangement was announced and she started to lose it. He tortured her parents until they caved, you know. She had to listen to her mom and dad screaming for hours on end, and that does something to a child. Sissy learned to be out of the house whenever he came to visit. She’d always end up at ours to the point that we didn’t even bother with the floo anymore. Some nights she would come to me crying and make me swear not to tell anyone how afraid she was...Voldemort made a lot of promises back then, and all our parents thought they were great even though the sight of him followed us into our nightmares…”

Sirius looks out into the night with a sigh, “And then we went to Hogwarts. And I wasn’t put in Slytherin. I begged the hat, I knew what would happen as soon as I was in Gryffindor reds. Father was close to death, Mother had wanted to disown me from birth. Bella was starting to lose her sanity, Regulus was being black mailed into Voldemort’s arms, and Sissy...she was too scared to stick her neck out for anyone that wouldn’t benefit her. It was shit. Got my first howler that told me I was disowned, and I really thought there was nothing left for me. But then I met James and Remus.”

A smile breaks out on his face, “Bunch of idiots we were. James came from the Potter line, so naturally we knew each of each other, but I was never allowed to meet him because his parents were too liberal, and my Mother had picked our family’s side. James...well he was unlike any pureblood I’d ever met. Didn’t bother with table manors, didn’t listen to the rules, hell I’m amazed he even passed first year with the amount of shit he pulled...granted Remus did keep us both in check when Lily wasn’t screaming down our throats and Lily...well she was our Hermione. Absolutely brilliant, yelled at us when we bullied Severus, always got on to us when we didn’t do our homework, or when we got up to shit we shouldn’t have. She was also the first to drag us to the hospital wing when someone so much as coughed, even if she did hang around Severus a lot back then. James took me with him for Christmas that first year and once I met parents that hugged me and treated me like their own, well I couldn’t go back to that dark house.”

“It was around fourth year, when the balls were still happening, that we placed a few things together. Remus’s first secret was out of the way in second year, and honestly I didn’t even guess at the next one until Lily cornered me and told me to get my act together. I mean, being gay is whatever unless you’re a pureblood, but even then they don’t care that much as long as you have a heir. Took me three months to realize before Remus and I got into some stupid fight and I kissed him. We’ve been together ever since, only a year or two longer than James and Lily or Sissy and Lucius.”

“I didn’t realize how much she was still looking out for me until our last year, when the war started getting worse. Lucius caught me sneaking into Myrtle's bathroom one night and she got in his way. Distracted him in the nastiest way possible, if you ask me, but sometimes snogging in the hallways is acceptable. I thought she didn’t care until that point and after that I started keeping up contact with her. Obviously Lucius was expected to join Voldemort, but Sissy told me neither one of them wanted to. She said it was either her life or his, and since he had more connections he was more valuable. Broke her heart for a while, especially because Bella had gone completely mad by then.”

“We were out of school and thick in the battle, I say I’ve never killed but I’ve ended more Death Eater lives than I can be proud of. All of us had secret keepers, Remus was mine, and I was supposed to be the Potter’s, but I changed with Peter at the last second so I could be my lover’s instead. We were soldiers, and it was an unspoken rule that Sissy and I would never write about the war. We wrote about old times, the weather, how she was excited for her son to be born, how she hoped she could protect him. The only time she brought it up was when she told me that Mother was dying, and some stupid fighting shouldn’t stop me from saying goodbye. So I went to visit her and Regulus. She didn’t want to see me...and Regulus….he was furious that I left him to deal with everything by himself. Called me a blood traitor and a disgrace, which wasn’t far off from the normal so I didn’t think anything of it until he brought Remus into the mix and I couldn’t very well handle that. I left to go see James and Lily before heading home, Lily made the best tea in the world, and James had been with me for so long he knew exactly what to do to calm me down…”

Draco gets a sinking feeling in his chest, he knows what comes next.

“When I got to their house….it was gone. Blown up in the middle of the street. I racked my brian trying to figure out what happened, how they had been found. But only five people knew where their home was…I knew it wouldn’t be Dumbledore or Hagrid. Remus couldn’t go anywhere with the full moon so close...and that left their secret keeper. I went after him, found him in the middle of a wizard nieghborhood, and tried to kill him but the stupid rat beat me to it. I didn’t even have a trial….”

There’s nothing to say so they say nothing. Merely sit under the protection of night and absorb how shitty the past is. How fucked up life has become, all because of some power greedy bastard.

“At least I get to see Harry all grown up...I bought him his first broom, you know.”

Draco latches on the lighter topic like it’s his only hope, “So you’re the reason he’s so good at Quidditch!”

“I heard he was an amazing Seeker. I meant to see him play, but every time I tried Dementors showed up.”

“It’s a pity he broke his favorite broom, but he still managed to beat everyone with a school one.”

Sirius shoots him a smile, “Do you think a new broom would make him a little more likely to forgive me?”

Draco frowns at him, “He’ll forgive you just fine, we don’t need Gryffindors stronger than they already are. It’ll be horrible for my team!”

Sirius just laughs and Draco can’t stop himself from doing the same. 

LuLu finds them eventually. She meows at Draco like she’s cussing him out and honestly she’s been spending far too much time around Pansy with _that_ attitude. 

“Alright! Alright! I’m sorry I was reckless and got hurt, you can complain to Professor Lupin tomorrow.”

She glares at him but settles in his lap only to make a bunch of whiny noises until he pets her. Sirius keeps his smile throughout the exchange but it soon drops at the sight of a weird cloud rushing at them. “Draco? I don’t supposed that’s-”

Draco lights up like a tree, “Buckbeak!” Three seconds later he deflates, “I fucking told him not to pull something like this! He nearly died the first time by _Merlin_ I am going to _kill_ him!”

Buckbeak lands not too far away from where they are and Draco makes sure to place LuLu gently on the floor before hugging the two climbing off the beast.

“That was extremely reckless and I am very happy you’re safe. If you ever tell anyone that I hugged you I will hex you into next year.”

Harry laughs, Hermione shakes her head and then Sirius clears his throat. He doesn’t have to say anything for Draco to pull the muggle-born away and engage her in conversation so they wouldn’t have a chance to eavesdrop.

“Are either of you hurt?”

“No! We’re bloody brilliant, actually, and excuse my language but holy _fuck_ I thought I was going to die at least five times during that.”

Draco grins at her, “What did he do _this_ time”

He comes to the conclusion that he and Hermione both deserve a long holiday at some beach resort where the idiocy of one Harry Potter wouldn’t be able to hurt them so much. Not that they could stay long, they’d maybe last all of two days before worry got the best of them and they ended up rushing back and demanding a detailed report of what stupidity their friend had gotten up to.

Really? Distracting a werewolf? Running towards Dementors? Flying on a Hippogriff _again_ without training? It’s like the boy was asking to die. Draco’s ready to chastise him to no end for that last thing alone, but then he sees the small happy grin Harry has walking back to them and decides it doesn’t matter that much. He might be an idiot, but he hadn’t died yet.

“You’ll write, won’t you?” He says instead, focusing his attention on Sirius.

The man pats his head despite Draco’s scowl that isn’t really threatening in the face of the elder’s smile. “Under a code, of course. I have a few things to clear up with a few people, Dumbledore and your mother included.”

“Leave me out of your letters, please. I can’t have her knowing anything, it could put her in danger.”

Sirius chuckles at him, but nods all the same. He casts a glance at the three of them, “Do try to stay safe, I look forward to seeing you again someday.” And before Draco can ask what that means Buckbeak nods at him and flaps his wings up into the sky.

Harry grins at them, “Well I’d call that a successful night, wouldn’t you?”

“You almost died ten times tonight! How in the hell is that successful?”

“I came back, didn’t I?”

Draco fixes him with a look. Surely he can’t know how much that means. Surely it was just a joke to go along with the playfulness in his eyes. Draco feels the soft warmth spreading through him and decides he doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the possible deepness he should probably be considering. 

“You did.”

\----------

Draco pauses outside the DADA classroom, listening to the conversation inside.

Apparently Harry felt just as strongly as he did about Lupin leaving. He gets it of course, no parent in their right mind would be okay with a werewolf teaching their children. But that didn’t stop him from feeling guilty when Lupin reminds Harry that he _did_ hurt someone. Draco’s wounds on his back were proof of that, but he didn’t intend on leaving the man feeling bad. Something about that didn’t sit right with him, he might need Lupin’s help later, after all.

“So, no goodbye, then?” He asks, leaning casually against the doorway and pretending like he didn’t just hear Lupin give Harry the map back.

They both startle at his appearance, Lupin looks a little too ashamed for his liking.

“No big deal, I guess...but I thought you had more pride than to quit so quickly after one mess up. The Lupin I know would’ve offered himself some chocolate and gotten back on his feet.”

Harry smiles at him as though he can see right through him. Lupin’s frown lessens so he guesses he’s doing okay at the whole ‘being nice’ thing his friends all thought was so important.

“Are you implying that Professor Lupin is being a coward?”

Draco doesn’t dignify that with a response, but he does raise a challenging eyebrow at the adult in the room. 

Lupin rolls his eyes, “I’ll have you both know I’m leaving for more than just the werewolf issue.”

“Care to divulge?” Draco asks, moving in the room to lean against the desk next to Harry. Lupin looks like he might strangle them both.

“I thought keeping secrets was bad, professor. You see what it did for Padfoot and the headmaster.”

Another eye roll and some mumbling. “You two are awful together, you know that?”

Draco shrugs. “We’re only awful until you give us what we want.”

Harry nods in agreement and that gets Lupin laughing off to the side.

“Fine, fine. You may think this is a set back, but really, I’m excited. It’s been ages since I’ve seen our dear friend Padfoot, and I’m quite looking forward to our time together.”

The answer is well played. It leaves both Draco and Harry gagging at the implications, shaking their heads to get rid of the mental image.

“Ew! Okay! Gross but at least swear you’ll stay safe.”

“I’ll promise if you promise.” 

Harry rolls his eyes, “That’s what I have _him_ for.” He bumps into Draco’s shoulder, “He’ll kill me if I pull another stunt like this year.”

“And I’ll have every reason to! You went looking for a possible _killer_ Harry!”

“But I didn’t die-”

“You didn’t die _this_ time!”

“Or the other times!”

“Yes, because seeking out monsters each year is something to be proud of, isn’t it?!”

Harry opens his mouth to offer some retort but Lupin’s laughter cuts him off. They turn to see their professor, or possibly just another friend now, bent over his desk laughing like it was going to split him in two.

“Merlin!” He chokes, “You two are gonna do just fine without me-oh! Draco,” he reaches into his desk and pulls out a small wrapped present, “I know it’s a little late, but your birthday was a few days ago, wasn’t it?”

Draco takes the gift, his hands only shake a little bit, but no one has been able to give him something with the messes each year seemed to bring. 

“It’s not much,” Lupin explains as he opens it to reveal a small silver frog that looks exactly like the ones Lupin forced them to eat after each practice, “But it’s something to remember good times by.”

Ignoring Harry’s ‘when is your birthday, I deserve to know you wanker!’, Draco smiles at Lupin. “Write to us and we’ll have a lot more to remember those good times by.”

It wouldn’t be their last good time, Draco’s sure. Bad things would come their way, particularly his way, but they’d managed worse when they were younger and less prepared. 

And sure, the Firebolt that Harry gets from a ‘mysterious admirer’ during dinner annoys him just a bit because he knows how annoying Quidditch will be next year, but he can’t fight the smile tugging at his lips when he sees the look of pure joy on Harry’s face. 

Life would always be shitty, but he’s found it’s not always that bad. 

Life has stupid things, like tea time with Snape. Apologizes to Dumbledore. Even more spectacular things like cosying up with his friends, and the promise of seeing his mother.

\----------

Crabbe and Goyle, sensing the impending argument between his two best friends and himself, had actually offered to sit with the other Slytherins on the ride back. Something about Nott having a new game to play, but from the looks in their eyes he could tell they didn’t want to get caught between Pansy’s wrath and Blaise’s fury. 

Smart choice on their part.

Hagrid had come to him before they parted, thanking him for what he undoubtedly thought was Draco’s part in the sparing of Buckbeak’s life. He had wanted to refuse, but Harry had shook his head subtly and Draco merely pretended he had no idea what was being talked about, though he did give the giant a wink. His mind focuses on the giggle Harry had poorly concealed as Pansy rants.

“It’s like you don’t even care! You’re not even listening to me, are you? You ungrateful-”

“I _do_ care,” Draco sighs, because it’s probably better to get this argument taken care of so there isn’t a bad taste in his mouth all summer. “I wouldn’t have entered our blood contract if I didn’t care, which of course I do. If it weren’t for you two I wouldn’t have made it through second year. Not with my father and all the other secrets I was forced to keep, which you know were too important to divulge without Dumbledore agreeing, and he couldn’t deal with that while students were getting hurt.”

“And while you were getting hurt?” Blaise asks in that steely voice that lets Draco know just how badly he fucked up. “The issue here is no longer your secret keeping, we understand why you had to do that now, but rather in the fact that you keep putting yourself in harm's way. You complain about Harry, but you do the exact same thing.”

To be fair, he only ended up in dangerous situations _because_ of Harry, but that wouldn’t make sense to his friends. “I have to keep Harry alive, no matter what. I’m not saying that my life doesn’t matter, but I don’t stand a chance at defeating the Dark Lord if- no when he rises again. The Malfoy name is used for terror, not hope, and we all agree that Harry is the hope of the Wizarding world. If he dies, best case scenario is that people would rally behind a martyr, but there would still be no one left to actually kill the bastard.”

Pansy narrows her eyes, “What about Dumbledore? He’s the most powerful wizard in the world, he shouldn’t be leaving this fight to a bunch of untrained children.”

Merlin, he loves her. For her brain if nothing else. “That’s what I thought, but he is old and as much as I want to demand he leave us out of the war entirely, you know it wouldn’t be that simple. My father is already trying to train me to be a Death Eater, how much longer would it take for other pureblood families to start doing the same?”

Blaise grimaces, Pansy sighs. 

“There are some families who stayed neutral.”

“And who’s to say they would do the same this time? Harry’s meant to kill the Dark Lord, that’s all we know for certain. The rest of it no one has a clue about. Other kids could already be casting their alliances, being trained in the Dark Arts, there’s no telling how many enemies are out there already.”

“Is that where you come in? Saving Harry until he faces the one thing you might not be able to save him from?”

Draco actually laughs at that, “Harry will defeat the Dark Lord. It will be dangerous, sure, but he won’t die. I won’t let him die, not until he suffers the consequences for my headaches over the years. And since I have to be there until the very end, I can’t die either. You two have nothing to worry about from that aspect.”

He doesn’t tell them about the cuts on his inner thighs, but only because it wouldn’t really help his case at the moment and he can see them starting to give in. Blaise reaches out and takes his hand, “You two were the first people in my life that my mother ever trusted to care about me. Should you break my heart by dying I hope you know she’ll hire someone to bring you back so she can wring your neck.”

Draco grins, though he does have to admit Mrs. Zabini angry is the type of scary his father aspires to be.

“And my father will bail her out so my mother can do the same.”

“And then _your_ mother would have the third time, though she probably wouldn’t kill you.”

Draco laughs, “No, she’d find something much worse than that and keep a threatening eye on me.”

The door to their compartment opens and closes by itself. Draco only rolls his eyes before the air moves and three more idiots are standing there.

“I dunno who managed to get rid of Crabbe and Goyle,” Weasley says as he settles into the seat by the window, “But I say they deserve first hand in Exploding Snaps.”

Pansy and Blaise look towards him and match his smile. 

The six gather around and spend the rest of the ride laughing. They don’t talk about the near death experiences. That Lupin has left and some weirdo would probably take his place and make life miserable. That Draco and Harry were both returning to a summer full of abuse. No one says a word about the millions of things that could go wrong until the train starts to slow down and Harry holds up his Invisibility Cloak.

“I know we can’t write, but I expect to see all of you safe and back in this carriage in a few months. Deal?”

He’s met with five heads nodding in agreement, even though he really only looks at Draco. A flash of movement later and the three Gryffindors are disappearing through an open door, leaving the three Slytherins to gather their things and make their way to the landing.

“That’s weird. Mother is never late to pick me up…”

Pansy matches Blaise’s confused expression, “Father is very punctual as well…”

They barely have time to share a look before Sisily is before them, bowing deeply but looking around as though she’d been through the shock of her life.

“Master Draco, you and your friends are expected to be coming to the Manor at once.”

Draco raises an eyebrow, “Expected by who?”

“Your mothers,” Sisily gulps, “All three of them.”

_Well, shit._

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the amount of foreshadowing i've done in this fic i-  
> anyways! i'm about to post the first chapter of the next fic where a LOT is going to happen, including the cute scene that everyone knows is coming. leave me some comments and guesses about the story and i'll answer any questions. at the end of the next fic i'll let you guys in on a few secrets and to be honest there are two different places i want to take the plot and i'm trying to figure out how to make us touch both areas so wish me luck and thank you all so much for joining me in this fic :) I hope to see you in the next one

**Author's Note:**

> THERE IS A PART THREE! Idk why but ao3 isn't showing it in the 'next' option, but it is under the series if you click the series. The title of part three is called 'Dancing with Fire'


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